Nalanda

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This article refers to the ancient town and university of Nalanda, which rose to fame as the ancient seat of Buddhist learning in India. For other uses, see Nalanda (disambiguation).

Nālānda is the name of an ancient university in India.

The name is a Sanskrit word that means giver of knowledge, (possibly from nalam, lotus, a symbol of knowledge and da, to give).[1] The Chinese pilgrim-monk Xuanzang[2] 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.

It is located 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.[3][4] It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history."[4] Nalanda is located at 25.135766° N 85.444923° ECoordinates: 25.135766° N 85.444923° E

Source: Wikipedia. Nālanda was identified by Alexander Cunningham with the village of Baragaon[5].

Contents

Nalanda in the time of the Buddha (500 BC)

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 till 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.[3]

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).

King Asoka (250 BC) is said to have built a temple there[3]. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna taught there[16].

Arising and establishment of Nalanda University

Historical studies indicate that the University of Nalanda was established 450 CE under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, notably Kumaragupta.[3]

Description of Nalanda University

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.[4] The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

Image:Nalanda seal.jpg
The seal of Nalanda University set in terracotta on display in the ASI Museum in Nalanda
Pilgrimage to
Buddha's
Holy Sites
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The Four Main Sites
Lumbini · Bodh Gaya
Sarnath · Kushinagar
Four Additional Sites
Sravasti · Rajgir
Sankissa · Vaishali
Other Sites
Patna · Gaya
  Kosambi · Mathura
Kapilavastu · Devadaha
Kesariya · Pava
Nalanda · Varanasi
Later Sites
Sanchi · Ratnagiri
Ellora · Ajanta
Bharhut
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The university was an architectural and environmental masterpiece. It had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university’s heyday and providing accommodations for 2,000 professors. Nalanda was also the most global university of its time, attracting pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.

Influence on Buddhism

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.

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.

Decline and End

Image:Nalandaview.jpg
A view of the ruins of Nalanda University

In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was sacked by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. It is said that Khilji 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 be responsible for the sudden demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.[17] 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.

Ruins

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, 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.

Plans for revival

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 India, Japan and other nations will attempt to raise $500 million to build a new university and another $500 million to develop necessary infrastructure.[4]

Image:Nalanda-sariputta.jpg
Wide view of the other (back)side of Sariputta's Stupa.

See also

Picture Gallery

Nalanda brfore.jpg

The mounds at Nalanda, as they stood, before the University was excavated.

Nalanda1.jpg

Front view of Sariputta Stupa

Nalanda University India ruins.jpg

Back view of Sariputta Stupa

References

  1. ^ Tharoor, Shashi. "Reconstructing Nalanda". The Hindu. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  2. ^ Beal: op. cit., ii.167f
  3. ^ a b c d Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1965). Education in Ancient India, Sixth, Varanasi: Nand Kishore & Bros.
  4. ^ a b c d "Really Old School," Garten, Jeffrey E. New York Times, December 9, 2006.
  5. ^ CAGI. 537
  6. ^ S.ii.110; M.i.376ff.
  7. ^ D.i.211ff.
  8. ^ S. ii. 311 23
  9. ^ D.ii.81f.; iii.99ff.; S.v.159ff.
  10. ^ D.ii.81; Vin.ii.287
  11. ^ D.ii.84
  12. ^ S.ii.220
  13. ^ Digha Nikaya.i.211
  14. ^ S.iv.322
  15. ^ VvA.144
  16. ^ Hopkins, Jeffrey (1996). Meditation on Emptiness, Wisdom Publications.
  17. ^ D. C. Ahir, Buddhism Declined in India: How and Why?, Delhi: B. R. Publishing, 2005.

External links

Additional images and other media may be found on Wikimedia Commons related to: Nalanda



References

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