Nalanda University: The Remains Of Great History

The remains of history always say thousands of story. Story which became the past, present and future of our do’s and don’ts. Nalanda University is one of those history which educates us and prepare us for future too. It is true that the university has been ruined and only its remains are left but still we can learn many thing about this earliest and finest university.

Nowadays Nalanda is the remains of Buddha and Mahavira monastery (6th–5th centuries BCE) but in ancient time it was one of the finest university of the world. It is located in Patna, Bihar, which was known as Magadha in past.

The beginning of Nalanda was started with Mahavira and Gautama Buddha and later the Gupta era holds its command and makes it the earliest university of the history. The emperor Kumar Gupta (5th Century A.D.) established formally this place for those who are in search of great knowledge and learning. Nalanda attracts all the seeker of knowledge. The historical evidence shows that it was the residential university where teachers and students share their knowledge and learn something new. It was home of approximate 2,000 teachers and 10,000 students.

Nalanda University was the former one which provided knowledge to thousands of people without any interruption for 800 years. Nalanda share his knowledge with many scholars came from different distant places as China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and South East Asia. They lived and study their different interest like theology, astronomy, metaphysics, medicine and philosophy by great teachers of the era.

It was formed in 5th century CE and demolish in 12th century by Bakhtiyar Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate. The written description of the university and its stupas, monasteries, temples, and meditation halls by Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar Xuanzang reviled the glory of this place. They spend many years in travelling in India and spend about two years here. First Xuanzang visited Nalanda in 637 and again in 642. Besides Buddhist studies, the monk also attended courses in grammar, logic, and Sanskrit, and later also lectured at the Mahavihara. 

Nalanda University was attacked three times by the invaders first the Huns, the Gaudas, and in 12th century Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by the Turkic chieftain Bakhtiar Khilji. It was reported by a Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj that the univesity was set on fire and thousands of monks and pupils are burned alive and beheaded to uproot Buddhism. The library was burned up to several months. The books and manuscripts all are hand written and only copy in the world. The knowledge burned and vanished into air only smoke and ashes left for the future. However we still have the evidence of its existence thanks to the pilgrims who store them in their detailed accounts of the university.

The area of the university we see today it was just a part of the university in historic period this place is huge and covered by lofty wall and a huge gate. The institution have classrooms, meditation halls, compounds and stupas but now only a small portion of that huge campus has been excavated.

You can visit this place and connect with the history, architecture, culture, and Buddhism as well. It’s located in Patna, Bihar. The remains will tell you their story.

 

 

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