Nalanda: Like a Phoenix Rising From Its Ashes

Priyanka Rout

Nalanda: Like a Phoenix Rising From Its Ashes

Today, we talk about Ivy-League colleges with world-class facilities ranging from various courses to classy libraries. Be it Harvard University in Cambridge or Columbia University in New York; they attract students like moths. But have you ever thought of a university present in the Indian subcontinent that attracts scholars and researchers worldwide? The world's first-ever international university, the ruins of Nalanda transport us to India's ancient terrain of knowledge.

When education looks so grand; Image Source: Opolis

Classes had resumed early in the year 2014 in September at an international university in the small town of Rajgir in Bihar, one of the most backward states in India. Wondering how a state like Bihar could have the tag of an international university on its poverty-stricken, barren land? What if I tell you that Bihar was the first state to have an international university under its wings? Not too many students could be seen. Only three classes were held-history, ecology, and environment, with twenty students in each category. While the progress was relatively slow, when the Corriere della Sera newspaper headline said, "Ritorno a Nalanda," India had yet another reason to present its elaborate education culture.

Nalanda was an eminent center of learning long before Oxford, Cambridge, and Europe's oldest university, Bologna, came into existence. Located in Rajgir, a small town in Bihar, Nalanda dates back to 427 CE. The name itself has a detailed history. According to Xuanxang, a famous Chinese pilgrim, the name Nalanda is derived from a serpent deity in Hinduism. He also said that the word "na-alam-da" when translated into English means "charity without intermission." Yet another archaeologist named Hiranand Sastri, who headed the excavation of the ruins of Nalanda, deciphered that the word nalas comes from the phrase lotus stalks, which means Nalanda represents the giver of lotus stalks.

The history of Nalanda is related to Rajgir and dates back to the 1st millennium BCE. It is said that Buddha visited a town called Nalanda on his pilgrimage. He delivered lectures in a mango grove named Pavarika. Many of the texts developed after the death of Buddha had mentioned Rajagriha and Nalanda. A Buddhist text called Nikayasamgraha states that Ashoka established a vihara, or monastery, at Nalanda. However, the recent excavations at Rajgir have yielded no such evidence of monuments that belong to the Ashoka period. Some people believe that the area of Nalanda, as mentioned in the Buddhist texts, is different from the current Nalanda University.

We have previously seen that Itsing resided at Nalanda for ten years for his studies (A.D. 675-85), during which time he acquired 400 Sanskrit works totaling 500,000 slokas. This demonstrates that Nalanda had a well-stocked library. The Tibetan accounts provide information on the Nalanda University Library, which was located in a particular area known as Dharmaganj (Mart of Religion) and consisted of three massive buildings called Ratnaagara, Ratnodadhi, and Rat-naranjala, of which Ratnasagara, a nine-story building, specialised in the collection of rare sacred works like the Praniapa-ramtia-sutra and

However, Nalanda did not stay safe for long. The largest educational hub in India was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji of the Mamluk clan in 1193 AD. Bakhtiyar was the chieftain of the army. He was assigned to two villages in Bihar that had no political leaders. Sensing the opportunity, he started looting and plundering these villages. This action of his impressed his superiors. Encouraged by their praise, Khilji attacked a fort, captured it, and robbed a great treasure. In addition to these devastations, he also caused extensive damage to Nalanda University. The library burned for several months, and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills." Describing Khilji's attack on Nalanda, Minhaj-i-Siraj wrote:

Spread over an area of 14 hectares, Nalanda University was the centre of learning from the last century BCE till the infamous Turkish invasion of 1193. Known as a residential university, the campus consists of ten temples, classrooms, meditation halls, monasteries, dormitories, etc., including water bodies and parks spread across eight compounds. AICTE described Nalanda University as:

There were eight distinct complexes, ten temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes, and parks at the institution. It contained a nine-story library where monks painstakingly copied books and papers so that individual academics could have their collections. It had student dorms, maybe a first for an educational institution, accommodating 10,000 students in its prime and providing lodging for 2,000 teachers. Nalanda University drew students and academics from all over the world, including Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia, and Turkey.

The construction of Nalanda University dates back to 2100 years, which was the inception of the Gupta dynasty. However, the archaeological excavations reveal that Nalanda's existence can be dated beyond 1200 BCE. The Guptas were the sole spokespersons to have started the tradition of university education. Shakraditya, also known by Kumaragupta I, the Gupta emperor, is said to be the founder of this ancient university.

One of the fascinating possessions of Nalanda is its humongous library. The structure of the library extended to three enormous, multi-storey buildings. The library was so vast that it contained more than 9 million manuscripts. In his book Encyclopaedia of the History of Education, Paul Munroe writes about the library:

Through the power of his intrepidity, Muhammad-i-Bakht-yar flung himself into the postern of the stronghold's doorway, and they stormed the fortress and obtained immense plunder. The majority of people who lived there were Brahmans, and all of them had their heads shaved, and were slaughtered. There were many books there, and when the Musalmans discovered them, they called several Hindus to give them information on importing those books. However, all of the Hindus had been slaughtered.

While originating in India (especially in Bihar), a plan to resurrect Nalanda as a contemporary international university while creating in India (especially in Bihar) has always been a pan-Asian project. The concept was supported by all sixteen nations that visited the East Asia Summit in Cebu, Philippines, in January 2007. The founders of the new Nalanda aimed not merely to establish a world-class institution but also to promote collaboration and the exchange of ideas beyond national boundaries. They agreed to support a "vision" of a new university that would be "open to thinking and practice currents throughout the world."

For thousands of years, knowledge of the humanities, society, arithmetic, science, engineering, and religious and moral reasoning has propelled people across borders. There is a significant demand for non-business and non-confrontational contacts in today's divisive culture, and Nalanda has a critical perspective to contribute in this regard.