From Wikipedia:
Nālandā was an ancient center
of higher learning in
Bihar, India.[1] The site is located about 88
kilometres south east of Patna,
and was a religious center
of learning from the fifth century AD to 1197 AD.[2][3] Nalanda
flourished between the reign of the Śakrāditya (whose identity is uncertain and
who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and
1197 AD, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as
well as Buddhist emperors like Harsha and later emperors from the Pala Empire.[4]
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 Tibet,
China, Greece, and Persia.[5] Nalanda
was ransacked and destroyed by an army underBakhtiyar 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.
Nalanda was one of the
world's first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students.
It is also one of the most famous universities. 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.[3] During
the period of Harsha, the monastery is reported to have owned 200 villages
given as grants.
Evidence in literature suggests that in 1193, the Nalanda
University was sacked by[11] Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk.[12] Muslim conquest in India
is seen by scholars as one of the reasons of the decline of Buddhism in
India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his
chronicle the Tabaqat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned
alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism[13] the burning of the library
continued for several months and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung
for days like a dark pall over the low hills."[14]
The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet
in 1204 at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu
Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet, he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin lineage to complement the two existing ones.
Excavations [edit]
Excavations
conducted by Archaeological Survey of India during 1915–37 and 1974–82 have
exposed the extensive remains of six major brick temples and eleven monasteries
arranged on a systematic layout and spread over an area of more than a square
kilometre. Basically a hundred feet wide passage runs north-south with the row
of temples on the west and that of the monasteries on the east of it.
The
monasteries are quite identical in general layout and appearance. Central
courtyard, row of cells all around with a common verandah, a secret chamber for
keeping valuables, staircase for going to upper stories, kitchen, well,
granary, single entrance and common place for prayer or meeting etc. are some
characteristic features of almost all the monasteries at Nalanda. The main
temple site 3 is the largest and most imposing structure at southern extremity
of the row of temples and is surrounded by votive stupas. Originally it had
four corner towers out of which two are in existence and decorated with rows of
niches containing beautiful stucco images of Buddha and Bodhisattvas which are
fine specimens of Gupta art. A temple different in character and not conforming
to the general layout of the remains is represented by temple site 2. The
interesting feature of this temple is the dado of two hundred and eleven
sculptured panels over the moulded plinth. Another mound called 'Sarai Tila'
very close to the monastery complex has revealed ruins of a temple with murals
and feet portion of a colossal stucco image of Lord Buddha.
Other
than structures, the excavations have unearthed many sculptures and images in
stone, bronze and stucco. Significant among the Buddhist sculptures are Buddha
in different postures, Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Tara, Prajnaparamita, Marichi,
Jambhala etc. and a few images are of Brahmanical deities like Vishnu,
Siva-Parvati, Mahishasura-mardini, Ganesa, Surya etc. Other noteworthy
discoveries of excavations include the murals, copper plates, inscriptions,
sealings, plaques, coins, terracottas, potteries etc. The antiquities have been
exhibited for the visitors in the site museum maintained by the Archaeological
Survey of India.
Ruins [edit]
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 ifXuanzang'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.[40] 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.
Plans for revival [edit]
Main
article: Nalanda
International University
·
On 9 December 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.[3]
·
On 28 May 2007, Merinews reported that the revived university's
enrolment will be 1,137 in its first year, and 4,530 by the fifth. In the
'second phase', enrolment will reach 5,812.[41]
·
On 12 June 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."[42]
·
On 15 August 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."[43]
·
NDTV reported on 5 May 2008 that, according to
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, the foundation of University
would likely be in the year 2009 and the first teaching class could begin in a
few years from then. Sen, who heads the Nalanda Mentor Group, said the final
report in this regard, is expected to be presented to the East Asia Summit in
December 2008.
·
On 11 May 2008, The Times of
India reported
that host nation India and a consortium of East Asian countries met in New York
to further discuss Nalanda plans. It was decided that Nalanda would largely be
a post-graduate research university, with the following schools: School of
Buddhist studies, philosophy, and comparative religion; School of historical
studies; School of International Relations and Peace; School of Business
Management and Development; School of Languages and Literature; and, School of
Ecology and Environmental Studies. The objective of the school was claimed to
be "aimed at advancing the concept of an Asian community...and rediscovering
old relationships."[44]
·
On 13 September 2010, the Jakarta Globe Reported Parliament in New Delhi
passed a bill approving plans to rebuild the campus as a symbol of India's
global ambitions.[45]
·
On 28 May 2013, the BBC reported that students would begin
arriving in 2014, and that "the new Nalanda International University will
focus on the humanities, economics and management, Asian integration,
sustainable development and oriental languages." [46]
Photographs of Elegant Ruins of Nalanda:
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