Nalanda mahavihara

Nālandā is the name of an ancient university 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 427 CE to 1197 CE partly under the Pala Empire.^[1][2] It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history."^[2] Nalanda is located at 25°08′09″N 85°26′42″E / 25.135766°N 85.444923°E / 25.135766; 85.444923. Nālanda was identified by Alexander Cunningham with the village of Baragaon^[3].

The name is a Sanskrit word that means giver of knowledge, (possibly from nalam, lotus, a symbol of knowledge and da, to give).^[4] The Chinese pilgrim-monk Xuanzang^[5] gives several explanations of the name Nālandā. One is that it was named after the Nāga who lived in a tank in the middle of the mango grove. Another - and accepted by him - is that the Bodhisatta once had his capital here and gave "alms without intermission," hence the name.

The Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nalanda. When he visited Nalanda he would usually reside in Pāvārika's mango grove, and while there he had discussions with Upāli-Gahapati and Dīghatapassī^[6], with Kevatta^[7], and also several conversations with Asibandhakaputta^[8].

The Buddha visited Nālandā during his last tour through Magadha, and it was there that Sariputta uttered his "lion's roar," affirming his faith in the Buddha, shortly before his death^[9]. The road from Rājagaha to Nālandā passed through Ambalatthikā^[10], and from Nālandā it went on to Pātaligāma^[11]. Between Rājagaha and Nālandā was situated the Bahuputta cetiya^[12].

According to the Kevatta Sutta^[13], in the Buddha's time Nālandā was already an influential and prosperous town, thickly populated, though it was not until later that it became the centre of learning for which it afterwards became famous. There is a record in the Samyutta Nikaya^[14], of the town having been the victim of a severe famine during the Buddha's time. Sāriputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nālandā.^[1]

Nālandā was the residence of Sonnadinnā^[15]. Mahavira is several times mentioned as staying at Nālandā, which was evidently a centre of activity of the Jains. Mahavira is believed to have 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).^{[citation needed]}

King Asoka (250 BC) is said to have built a temple there^[1]. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna taught there^[16].

Historical studies indicate that the University of Nalanda was established 450 CE under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, notably Kumaragupta.^[1]

Pilgrimage to
Buddha's Holy Sites
The Four Main Sites Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath
Four Additional Sites Rajgir Sankissa Shravasti Vaishali
Other Sites Ajanta Amaravati Barabar Caves Bharhut Chandavaram Devdaha Ellora Caves Kapilavastu Kesaria Stupa Kosambi Lalitgiri Mathura Nalanda Nasik Pataliputra Pāvā Piprahwa Pushpagiri Ramagrama stupa Ratnagiri Sanchi Udayagiri Tilaurakot Varanasi Vikramashila
v t e

Nalanda was one of the world's first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. In its heyday it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.^[2] The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

In an unattributed article of the Dharma Fellowship (2005), the curriculum of Nalanda University at the time of Mañjuśrīmitra contained:

...virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise.^[17]

Berzin (2002) outlines the 'four systems of Buddhist tenets' or 'four doxographies' (Tibetan: grub-mtha’) taught at Nalanda, the Vaibhashika (Tibetan: bye-brag smra-ba) and Sautrantika (Tibetan: mdo-sde-pa) of the Sarvastivada (Tibetan: thams-cad yod-par smra-ba); and the Chittamatra (Sanskrit: sems-tsam-pa) and Madhyamaka (Tibetan: dbu-ma-pa) of the Mahayana:

In the Indian Mahayana Buddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monks studied four systems of Buddhist tenets. Two – Vaibhashika and Sautrantika – were subdivisions of the Sarvastivada school within Hinayana. The other two – Chittamatra and Madhyamaka – were subdivisions within Mahayana.^[18]

A vast amount of what is considered to be Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) actually stems from the late (9th-12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar Dharmakirti (circa 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, like the Mahayana followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan, found their genesis within the walls of the ancient university.

Also Theravada Buddhism was taught at Nalanda University. But the teachings of Theravada were not developed further in Nalanda, as Nalanda was not a strong center of Theravada.

In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by Muslim armies^[19] under Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Muslim invaders cared nothing for the university and the fact that it was a leading learning center. They also cared nothing for the numerous historic texts and scrolls in the university. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa visited them in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, but still functioning with a small number of monks.

Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda and northern India for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.^[20] Ling and Scott, however, point out that centres of learning were already declining, before the presence of Muslims.^[19] Fortified Sena monasteries along the main route of the invasion were destroyed, and being off the main route both Nalanda and Bodh Gaya survived. Many institutions off the main route such as the Jagaddala Monastery in northern Bengal were untouched and flourishing.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Nālandā 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.

• On December 9, 2006, the New York Times detailed a plan in the works to spend $1 billion to revive Nalanda University near the ancient site. A consortium led by Singapore and including China, India, Japan and other nations will attempt to raise $500 million to build a new university and another $500 million to develop necessary infrastructure.^[2]

• On May 28, 2007, Merinews reported that the revived university's enrollment will be 1,137 in its first year, and 4,530 by the fifth. In the 'second phase', enrolment will reach 5,812. ^[21]

• On June 12, 2007, News Post India reported that the Japanese diplomat Noro Motoyasu said that "Japan will fund the setting up an international university in Nalanda in Bihar". The report goes on to say that "The proposed university will be fully residential, like the ancient seat of learning at Nalanda. In the first phase of the project, seven schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics would come up." ... "The university will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. A renowned international scholar will be its chancellor."^[22]

• On August 15, 2007, The Times of India reported that Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has accepted the offer to join the revived Nalanda International University sometime in September 2007."^[23]

• Ancient Universities of India
• Benares
• I Ching (monk)
• Nava Vihara
• Puspagiri University
• Taxila
• Vikramaśīla University

• 
  The mounds at Nalanda, as they stood, before the University was excavated.
• 
  Front view of Sariputta Stupa
• 
  Back view of Sariputta Stupa

• Nalanda Photo Gallery 80+ Photograph

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nalanda.

• Template:Wikitravel
• Entry on Nalanda in the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names

• An Ancient Glory Rises
• Manuscript originally from Nalanda
• Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar State, India
• NY Times on the plans to revive Nalanda