A thread on one of Ancient India`s greatest buildings and our educational,cultural & religious heritage,the Nalanda University. Read & spread this account of it`s architecture, teaching style & management. From a humble beginning to a sad end, this is the story of Nalanda univ. 
Let`s start with how it was built in the first place.
Huien Tsang tells us the traditional story about how it was built.
The university was named after a Naga who lived in the pond to the south of the structure. Tathagata, who was the king and also a Bodhisattva built this.
Huien Tsang tells us the traditional story about how it was built.
The university was named after a Naga who lived in the pond to the south of the structure. Tathagata, who was the king and also a Bodhisattva built this.
This place was originally bought by 500 merchants for a sum of 10 lac gold pieces and presented to Buddha. Later many kings continued building here.
Let`s talk about it`s structure now.
Let`s discuss how Huien Tsang described it.
The whole structure was by a brick wall which enclosed the entire structure. It had eight separate halls and pointed hill tops.
Let`s discuss how Huien Tsang described it.
The whole structure was by a brick wall which enclosed the entire structure. It had eight separate halls and pointed hill tops.
Let`s move to what archaeology says about it.
The outer walls were 203 feet long and 6.5 inches thick.
The structure had cells measuring 9.5', 11' and 12'. There were 13 different monasteries at different times and contained 300 rooms for various purposes.
The outer walls were 203 feet long and 6.5 inches thick.
The structure had cells measuring 9.5', 11' and 12'. There were 13 different monasteries at different times and contained 300 rooms for various purposes.
Let`s talk about the students.
The students came from all around India and from China, Mongolia etc. They came to collect Buddhist manuscripts, or to be professional in some branches. There was a strict admission test which only 1 in 5 could clear and be illegible to study.
The students came from all around India and from China, Mongolia etc. They came to collect Buddhist manuscripts, or to be professional in some branches. There was a strict admission test which only 1 in 5 could clear and be illegible to study.
here were around 10,000 priests studying there at a time and they studied all sorts of subjects like Vedas, the Buddhist scriptures. There were different levels of expertise of Priests in scriptures.
Out of those 10,000 ,1500 were teachers and 8500 were students. There were on an average 100 lectures or discussions a day. The teacher to student ratio was an exemplary 1:7 or 1:8
The priests got great respect from the king and till the time of Tsang (700 years), there had been no revolt or rebellion against authority by monks. The king had allotted revenue of 100 villages for it`s care
200 villagers from nearby villages daily provided them rice, butter and milk so they could focus on their studies.
Unfortunately we couldn`t see the university go on forever as Bakhtiyar Khilji attacked it in 1199 AD. 200 horsemen were there to protect it.
After conquering it, all of the Hindus there were killed, most of whom were Brahmins with head shaven. Khilji tried to find about the texts and upon finding them religious destroyed it altogether. A great monument of the ancient world was destroyed by an invader in Islamic zeal.
It was a great structure that existed for various centuries. It was a centre of worldwide fame and had facilities comparable to present day colleges.
Sources :
For the photographs :
1. whc.unesco.org/en/list/1502/g…
2. culturalindia.net/monuments/nala…
The books referred are :
For the photographs :
1. whc.unesco.org/en/list/1502/g…
2. culturalindia.net/monuments/nala…
The books referred are :
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