Nalanda

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Nalanda

Nalanda is a historical place in central Bihar, India, 90 km south-east of the state capital of Patna. It is the place where one of the best known Universities of ancient India existed. It existed for around 700 years, reaching its zenith under the Gupta rule, which is often called the Golden period of ancient India. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang recorded that Nalanda was home to students from various countries at its zenith.

It is not inhabited now, and the nearest habitation is a village called Bargaon. Nalanda is important to the history of India, and that of Buddhism. Nalanda literally means the place that confers the lotus.

The Jain Tirthankara Mahavira attained Moksha at Pavapuri, which is located in Nalanda (also according to one sect of Jainism he was born in the nearby village called Kundalpur). However, the site is better known for its importance in Buddhist history. The famous Nalanda University had been established at the site by the 5th century BCE and the Buddha is believed to have visited it and given sermons near "the Mango Grove of Pavarika". Later, Nalanda University became an important Buddhist centre of learning, at its peak accommodating up to 10,000 students. Among the famous teachers there was Nagarjuna. The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was sacked by Turkish Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khalji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. Fortified Sena monastaries along the main route of the invasion were destroyed and being off the main route both Nalanda and Bodh Gaya survived. It is said that Khalji asked if there was a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa visited them in 1235, he found them damaged and looted, but still functioning with a small number of monks. The destruction of the universities at Nalanda as well as the destruction of many temples and monasteries throughout northern India which housed centers of learning, is considered by many historians to the responsible for the sudden demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy. However many instituions off the main route such as the Jagaddala Monastery in northern Bengal were untouched and flourishing.

A vast amount of what is considered to be Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) actually stems from the late (9th-12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. Other forms of Buddhism, like the Mahayana followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan, found their genesis within the walls of the ancient university. Theravada, the other main school of Buddhism, followed in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and elsewhere, and later the mystic Theravada schools also developed here.

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.

In 1951, a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies was founded nearby, 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.

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Archaeological sites in India | Former Buddhist temples | Ruins | Bihar | Places connected with Jainism

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