A Pilgrimage Special: An Ancient University

In Bada Gaon, somewhere southeast of Patna, lies the ruin of world famous Nalanda University. It was the first residential International University in the world and had been recorded as the world's earliest university. At its peak, it housed about 2000 teachers and 10,000 students who came from all over the world including Tibet, Korea and China who came to study scriptures of Buddhism from both Mahayana and Hinayana Schools, Vedas, Hetu Vidya(Logic), Shabda Vidya(Grammar), Chikitsa vidya(medicine) etc. Memories of Lord Buddha lingered here and he was said to have visited here several time. Two chief disciples of Lord Buddha, Sariputta and Moggallana hailed from the vicinity and today, the stupa built in honour of the Sariputta by King Asoka still stands proudly. According to our guide, this stupa has not been fully excavated and there should be more interesting things beneath the stupa. Many interesting things however, had been destroyed eons ago. When Hsuan Sang the Chinese pilgrim visited Nalanda in the seventh century, Buddhism was already on the decline and the final destruction came when Mohammad Bakhtiar Khilji destroyed it. Monks were either killed or had fled and a great collection of works, the result of centuries of scholastic studies and manuscripts were burned and destroyed...

Pilgrims and tourists at ancient Nalanda University...





At the remains of a hostel...





Sariputta Stupa...