| Nalanda, both the original village and the university of the same name which later grew up nearly, has a hallowed place in the annals of Buddhism. Legend has it that Sariputta, one of the Buddha's two main disciples was born in or near the village, and the Buddha himself visiting here several times and preached several sermons, including the Brahmajala Sutra, the first discourse of the Tipitaka. Nalanda is mentioned in the famous history of Indian Buddhism written in the seventeenth century by the Tibetan scholar Taranatha, who claims that Asoka came here, had a temple erected, and made offerings at a stupa in honor of Sariputta. The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien visited here at the beginning of the fifth century and mentions a stupa, perhaps the one which Asoka had made offerings to, but makes no mention of any monastic complex, which seems to indicate that the great university complex which Nalanda eventually became famous for had not yet developed. By the time Huanziang arrived 200 years later the university was flourishing and was already well-known in the throughout the Buddhism world well beyond the borders of India. Thus is was that the university seems to have developed during the Gupta period (320 AD circa 620 AD), and indeed several Gupta kings contributed to the construction of the various colleges within the complex. Perhaps the fullest description of Nalanda comes from the peripatetic Chinese pilgrim Huanziang, who stayed here for five years, from 635 to 640. Another Chinese pilgrim I Tsing, made a ten year layover here, staring in about 865. Other pilgrims came from Tibet, Java, Sri Lanka, and Korea. Nalanda was in fact more like an advanced post graduate school than a conventional university. One needed a thorough grounding in Buddhist studies before even attempting to apply. There was a gatekeeper at the famous Northern Gate who confronted all applicants which a notoriously difficult set of questions and only those who passed this hurdle were considered for admission. According to Huanziang, "One must have studied deeply both the old and the new books before getting admission. Those students, therefore, who come here a strangers have to show their ability by hard discussion. Seven to eight out of every ten fail." During Huanziang's time there were 8500 students and and over 1500 teachers in attendance at Nalanda. All were considered the cream of the crop. Huanziang:
Buddhist studies, both from the Theravada and the Mahayana, dominated the cirriculum at Nalanda but medicine, astronomy, philology, art, metallurgy (for use in casting statues) and other secular subjects were also taught. In addition to already ordained monks lay persons also studied at Nalanda. Some were preparing for ordination and other considered withselves mainly with secular subjects. Sanscrit was the dominant language although numerous other languages were in use by both students and teachers alike. The university had at least three libraries: Ratnasagara (in a building at least nine stories tall), Ratnadadhi, and Ratnaranjaka. They were located in an area known as the Dharmaganja or Mart of Dharma. The libraries probably had a selection of books in various languages; we know, for instance, that the Chinese pilgrim Tao Hsi contributed over 400 volumes in Chinese to the libraries. Graduates of Nalanda who did not go directly into monasteries could expect careers as teachers, historians, philosophers and other scholars, poets, chaplains in royal courts, and whatnot. A diploma from Nalanda was considered so prestigious, so benficial to advancement in life, that it was unknown for unscrupulous career-seekers to forge them. The list of those who did attend and presumably graduate Nalanda is impressive. There was Nagarjuna and other promugalators of the Mayahana, Dharmakirti, Chandragomi (playwright and poet), the illustrious Dharmapala, Thoni Shambhota (credited with developing the Tibetan script); Santarakshita, Kamalasila, and Padmasambhava (all three instrumental in the spread of Buddhism to Tibet); and of course the immortal Santideva, author of the Boddhisattva Way, which continues to be read by hosts of Buddhists and others to this day. As with all organic entities, however, no sooner had Nalanda ripening and flowered than decay and decline set in. The university became immensely wealthy from royal patronage and students soon forsook Buddhist studies and the religious life for careers in court and government. Also, Brahmanism made inroads in the cirriculum, diluting Buddhistic teachings until began to resemble Hinduism. Thus it could be said Nalanda was already in steep decline, at least from a religious and intellectual point of view, when Islamic armies invaded India at the beginning of the 1190s. After the second battle of Tarain in 1192 when the forces of Islam were victorius there was nothing to keep them from invading the so-called Middle Land where Nalanda was located. In 1193 Mohammad Bakhtyar and his armies swept across the Gangetic Plain destroying all Buddhistic temples and institution he found and killing all Buddhist monks who fell into his hands. Nalanda was almost completely plundered, but a few monks who had managed to survive the onslaught returned and attempted to revive the institution. A second attack by the Moslems followed and this time Nalanda was destroyed for good. The abandoned ruins of the once great monastery slowy crumbled into dust, only to be restored, at least in part, in the twentieth century.
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The current gateway to Nalanda: the famous Northern Gateway which prospective students had to enter no longer exists.
The now-peaceful and surprisingly well-kept grounds of Nalanda on a typically foggy winter morning.
Remains of the Main Temple at Nalanda
Stupa near the Main Temple
Another stupa
Today the sound of chanting monks can again be heard at Nalanda, just as in the days before the university was destroyed by Moslem iconoclasts. |
