Wikipedia
Nalanda (; ) was an acclaimed Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India. The site is located about southeast of Patna near the town of Bihar Sharif, and was a centre of learning from the seventh century BC to . It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The highly formalized methods of Vedic learning helped inspire the establishment of large teaching institutions such as Taxila, Nalanda, and Vikramashila which are often characterised as India's early universities. Nalanda flourished under the patronage of the Gupta Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries and later under Harsha, the emperor of Kannauj. The liberal cultural traditions inherited from the Gupta age resulted in a period of growth and prosperity until the ninth century. The subsequent centuries were a time of gradual decline, a period during which the tantric developments of Buddhism became most pronounced in eastern India under the Pala Empire.
At its peak, the school attracted scholars and students from near and far with some travelling all the way from Tibet, China, Korea, and Central Asia. Archaeological evidence also notes contact with the Shailendra dynasty of Indonesia, one of whose kings built a monastery in the complex.
Much of our knowledge of Nalanda comes from the writings of pilgrim monks from East Asia such as Xuanzang and Yijing who travelled to the Mahavihara in the 7th century. Vincent Smith remarked that "a detailed history of Nalanda would be a history of Mahayanist Buddhism". Many of the names listed by Xuanzang in his travelogue as products of Nalanda are the names of those who developed the philosophy of Mahayana. All students at Nalanda studied Mahayana as well as the texts of the eighteen ( Hinayana) sects of Buddhism. Their curriculum also included other subjects such as the Vedas, logic, Sanskrit grammar, medicine and Samkhya.
Nalanda was very likely ransacked and destroyed by an army of the Muslim Mamluk Dynasty under Bakhtiyar Khilji in . While some sources note that the Mahavihara continued to function in a makeshift fashion for a while longer, it was eventually abandoned and forgotten until the 19th century when the site was surveyed and preliminary excavations were conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India. Systematic excavations commenced in 1915 which unearthed eleven monasteries and six brick temples neatly arranged on grounds 12 hectares in area. A trove of sculptures, coins, seals, and inscriptions have also been discovered in the ruins many of which are on display in the Nalanda Archaeological Museum situated nearby. Nalanda is now a notable tourist destination and a part of the Buddhist tourism circuit.
Nalanda was an acclaimed Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.
Nalanda may also refer to:
- Nalanda district, an administrative district of Bihar, India
- Nalanda (Lok Sabha constituency), a Lok Sabha constituency
- Nalanda Gedige, an ancient temple in Sri Lanka
- Nalanda, a village in Matale District, Sri Lanka
- Nalanda (genus), a beetle genus
- Nalanda Central College, Minuwangoda, a boys' school in Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka
- Nalanda College Biharsharif, a college in Bihar Sharif, Bihar, India
- Nalanda College, Colombo, a school in Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Nalanda Girls' Central College, a girls' school in Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka
- Nalanda Maha Vidyalaya, Elpitiya, a school in Elpitiya, Sri Lanka
- Nalanda Open University, a university at Patna, Bihar, India
- Nalanda University, a.k.a. Nalanda International University, a university (opened 2014) near the ruins of Nalanda, Bihar, India
- The Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies at Rumtek monastery, an affiliate of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India
- Nalanda Monastery (France), a Tibetan Buddhist center affiliated with the FPMT
Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state in eastern India.
Nalanda (7°31'N 80°34'E) is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province.
Nalanda (7°40'N 80°38'E) is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province.
Nalanda Vidhan Sabha constituency is one of 243 legislative assembly of legislative assembly of Bihar. It is a part of Nalanda lok sabha constituency along with other assembly constituencies viz Rajgir, Harnaut, Islampur, Hilsa, Asthawan and Biharsharif.
Nalanda is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, containing the following species:
- Nalanda acuta (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda alberti Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda albopubens Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda amethystina Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda angustifrons Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda annamita Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda arrowi (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda atrata Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda aureopubens Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda bilyi Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda binhensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda blaoensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda buddhaica (Obenberger, 1931)
- Nalanda choganhensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda chrysomelinus (Kerremans, 1892)
- Nalanda cochinchinae (Obenberger, 1924)
- Nalanda coeruleiventris Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda convexifrons Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda coomaniana Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda cupreiventris Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda cupreoapicalis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda cupricollis (Saunders, 1866)
- Nalanda cyaneoscutellaris (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda cyaneus (Fisher, 1922)
- Nalanda dalatensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda delauneyi (van de Poll, 1892)
- Nalanda dessumi Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda dongnaiensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda exophtalma Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda fleutiauxi (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda formosana (Obenberger, 1944)
- Nalanda frontalis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda glabra (Fisher, 1921)
- Nalanda granulata Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda halperini Niehuis, 1997
- Nalanda harmandi (Baudon, 1962)
- Nalanda hideoi Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda horni Théry, 1904
- Nalanda komiyai Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda kurosawai Tôyama, 1986
- Nalanda kurosawana Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda lacthoensis Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda lagerstraemiae Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda laotica (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda latifrons Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda magnifica (Kerremans, 1892)
- Nalanda mandarina (Obenberger, 1927)
- Nalanda moi Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda muong Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda niisatoi Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda ohbayashii Kurosawa, 1957
- Nalanda ornatus (Fisher, 1921)
- Nalanda pentacallosa Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda perroti Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda rutilicollis (Obenberger, 1914)
- Nalanda sericea Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda shimomurai Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda suzukii Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda takashii Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda tonkinea Descarpentries & Villiers, 1967
- Nalanda toyamai Ohmomo & Akiyama, 1989
- Nalanda viridipennis (Fisher, 1921)
- Nalanda vitalisi (Bourgoin, 1924)
- Nalanda wenigi (Obenberger, 1927)