Nalanda

Nland is the name of an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the
Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or
sixth century CE to 1197 CE.
[1][2]
It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history".
[2]

The Gupta Empire also patronized some monasteries. Nalanda flourished between the reign of the akrditya
(whose identity is uncertain and who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and
1197 CE, supported by patronage from Buddhist emperors like Harsha as well as later emperors from the Pala
Empire.
[3]

The complex was built with red bricks and its ruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At its peak, the university
attracted scholars and students from as far away as China, Greece, and Persia.
[4]
Nalanda was ransacked and
destroyed by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University
was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it, ransacked and
destroyed the monasteries, and drove the monks from the site. In 2006, Singapore, China, India, Japan, and
other nations, announced a proposed plan to restore and revive the ancient site as Nalanda International
University.
in Bihar and India
Coordinates 250812N 852638ECoordinates:
250812N 852638E
Country India State Bihar District(s) Nalanda Nearest city Rajgir Parliamentary constituency Nalanda
Assembly constituency Nalanda
Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)
Libraries
The library of Nalanda, known as Dharma Gunj (Mountain of Truth) or Dharmagaja (Treasury of Truth), was the most
renowned repository of Buddhist knowledge in the world at the time. Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of
thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for months when set aflame by Muslim invaders. The library had
three main buildings as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and
Ratnarajaka (Delighter of Jewels).
[20][21]
Influence on Buddhism
A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, stems from
the late (9th12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar Dharmakirti (ca. 7th century), one of the
Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic, as well as and one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, taught
at Nalanda.

Other forms of Buddhism, such as the Mahyna Buddhism followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan,
flourished within the walls of the ancient university. A number of scholars have associated some Mahyna
texts such as the ragama Stra, an important stra in East Asian Buddhism, with the Buddhist tradition at
Nland.
[25][26]
Ron Epstein also notes that the general doctrinal position of the stra does indeed correspond to
what is known about the Buddhist teachings at Nland toward the end of the Gupta period when it was
translated.
[27]

According to Hwui-Li, a Chinese visitor, Nland was held in contempt by some Sthaviras for its emphasis on
Mahayana philosophy. They reportedly chided King Hara for patronizing Nalanda during one of his visits to
Orissa, mocking the "sky-flower" philosophy taught there and suggesting that he might as well patronize a
Kapalika temple.
[28]
When this occurred, Hara notified the chancellor of Nland, who sent the monks
Sgaramati, Prajrami, Siharami, and Xuanzang to refute the views of the monks from Orissa.
Ruins
A number of ruined structures survive. Nearby is the Surya Mandir, a Hindu temple. The known and excavated
ruins extend over an area of about 150,000 square metres, although if Xuanzang's account of Nalanda's extent is
correlated with present excavations, almost 90% of it remains unexcavated. Nland is no longer inhabited.
Today the nearest habitation is a village called Bargaon.
In 1951, a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies was founded nearby by Bhikshu Jagdish
Kashyap, the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. Presently, this institute is pursuing an ambitious program of satellite
imaging of the entire region.
The Nalanda Museum contains a number of manuscripts, and shows many examples of the items that have
been excavated. India's first Multimedia Museum was opened on 26 January 2008, which recreates the history
of Nalanda using a 3D animation film narrated by Shekhar Suman. Besides this there are four more sections in
the Multimedia Museum: Geographical Perspective, Historical Perspective, Hall of Nalanda and Revival of
Nalanda




Influence on Buddhism

A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, stems
from the late (9th12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar Dharmakirti (ca. 7th century), one
of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic, as well as and one of the primary theorists of Buddhist
atomism, taught at Nalanda.
Other forms of Buddhism, such as the Mahyna Buddhism followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan,
flourished within the walls of the ancient university. A number of scholars have associated some Mahyna
texts such as the ragama Stra, an important stra in East Asian Buddhism, with the Buddhist tradition at
Nland.
[25][26]
Ron Epstein also notes that the general doctrinal position of the stra does indeed correspond to
what is known about the Buddhist teachings at Nland toward the end of the Gupta period when it was
translated.
[27]

According to Hwui-Li, a Chinese visitor, Nland was held in contempt by some Sthaviras for its emphasis on
Mahayana philosophy. They reportedly chided King Hara for patronizing Nalanda during one of his visits to
Orissa, mocking the "sky-flower" philosophy taught there and suggesting that he might as well patronize a
Kapalika temple.
[28]
When this occurred, Hara notified the chancellor of Nland, who sent the monks
Sgaramati, Prajrami, Siharami, and Xuanzang to refute the views of the monks from Orissa.
[29]