Nalanda
is an ancient city of early era of Hindu kings, founded in the 5th century AD.
It is famous as the ancient seat of learning. The decline of Nalanda and its university
is associated with the decline of Buddhism in India. When Hiuen Tsang travelled
the length and breadth of India in the 7th century, he observed that his
religion was in slow decay and even had ominous premonitions of Nalanda's
forthcoming demise. Buddhism had steadily lost popularity with the laity and
thrived, thanks to royal patronage, only in the monasteries of Bihar and
Bengal. By the time of the Pala Dynasty, the
traditional Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism forms
of Buddhism were imbued with Tantric practices involving secret rituals and
magic. The rise of Hindu philosophies in the subcontinent and the waning of the
Buddhist Pala dynasty after the 11th century meant that Buddhism was hemmed in
on multiple fronts, political, philosophical and moral. The final blow of Nalanda University was delivered when its still-flourishing
monasteries, the last visible symbols of its existence in India, were overrun
during the Muslim invasion that swept across Northern India at the turn of the
13th century.
History of Nalanda
Hieun Tsang stayed here in the 7th century AD and left detailed description of the excellence of education system and purity of monastic life practiced in Nalanda. He also gave a vivid account of both the ambiance and architecture of this unique university of ancient times. In this first residential international university of the world, 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monks students from all over Buddhist world lived and studied here. The Gupta kings patronized these monasteries, built in old Kushan architectural style, in a row of cells around a courtyard. Emperor Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most celebrated patrons who built temples, monasteries and viharas here. Recent excavations have unearthed elaborate structures here. To know more read:
Hieun Tsang stayed here in the 7th century AD and left detailed description of the excellence of education system and purity of monastic life practiced in Nalanda. He also gave a vivid account of both the ambiance and architecture of this unique university of ancient times. In this first residential international university of the world, 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monks students from all over Buddhist world lived and studied here. The Gupta kings patronized these monasteries, built in old Kushan architectural style, in a row of cells around a courtyard. Emperor Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most celebrated patrons who built temples, monasteries and viharas here. Recent excavations have unearthed elaborate structures here. To know more read:
