{"id":88553,"date":"2019-05-10T17:01:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T00:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88553"},"modified":"2019-05-10T17:01:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-11T00:01:40","slug":"a-buddhist-international-university-called-nalanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/10\/a-buddhist-international-university-called-nalanda\/","title":{"rendered":"A Buddhist International University Called NALANDA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewavitharana.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Nalanda was the\u00a0first residential university in the history of the world.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nalanda campus was an\nexceptionally impressive place, which included many impressive chetiyas,\ntemples, monasteries, hostels, lecture halls, meditation halls, libraries, even\nparkland with lakes. The three great libraries of Nalanda were: Ratnasagara,\nRatnadadhi and Ratnaranjaka. Inscriptional evidence (Yasovarmadeva) reveals\nthat these were nine story tall buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an great center of\nlearning in ancient India, and is located about 72 km from Patna, which is in\nthe eastern Indian state of Bihar. Now, all that remains is a small\nvillage called Nalanda close to the huge archeological remains of the\nUniversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 1500 years ago, or in the\n5th century CE, this Buddhist University became famous as a world class\ninstitution for study and learning. It was a leading world educational\ninstitution. (In terms of Sri Lankan history, this was the time of our\nillustrious kings such as Dhathusena who organised the building of the great\nKalawewa, and King Kasyapa of Sigiriya fame). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nalanda was a place visited by the\nBuddha and is near the birth places of the Buddha\u2019s two main disciples \u2013\nSariyuth (Saraputta) and Mugalan (Moggallana) Mahatheras. Soon after the\nBuddha’s passing away, a temple was built at Nalanda. Later, Emperor Asoka\nimproved this vihara and also built a monastery for Bhikkhus. This monastery\nevolved over time to become a prominent center of learning in the first century\nCE. Gradually, over time, by the 5th century CE. It had grown into the\nillustrious Nalanda International Buddhist University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fa Hien, the famous Chinese pilgrim\nand chronicler visited Nalanda in the first half of the fifth century and has\nleft records of what he saw. Hieuen Tsiang, another famous Chinese traveler, at\nthe beginning of the 7th century CE. studied for seven years at Nalanda and\nthen became a professor. He provides us with much information on Nalanda as a\nuniversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several inscriptions have been\ndiscovered among the ruins of Nalanda and these give us more useful\ninformation.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is recorded that in the 7th\ncentury, there were 10,000 students and 1500 professors in this university. The\nalumni, or graduates of Nalanda, were highly respected both within India and\ninternationally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had gathered together some of the\nbest scholars of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the many Chancellors of\nNalanda were the following famous people:  Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga,\nVasubandhu, Dinnaga, Dharmakirthi, Shantharakshita, Dharmapala and Shilabhadra.\n(It is interesting for Sri Lankans to note that, Aryadeva, the favourite\ndisciple of Nagarjuna, hailed from Sri Lanka!) The brothers Asanga and\nVasubandhu (4th c.) were Abbots in succession at Nalanda. Tibetan sources give\nthe names of several other famous Buddhist intellectuals associated with\nNalanda. (Note that the first European University \u2013 in \u2018Christendom\u2019 was built\naround 1364 CE)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resident scholar saints, all\nerudite monks, were the greatest attraction of Nalanda. Students from far and\nnear flocked to Nalanda to sit and learn at the feet of these famous scholars.\nThere were students from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, China, Central Asia, Vietnam,\nSumatra and Java.  It is known that several thousands of monks taught at\nNalanda and were men of the highest ability and talent. Some of those students\nfrom outside India, on becoming scholars would teach there too. The\ninternational character of Nalanda was very evident even during the time of\nHieuen Tsiang\u2019s association with Nalanda in the seventh century.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve these high academic\nstandards, strict procedures and discipline and were demanded of the students;\nthis was at the root of the success of the institution. Because of this high\nstandard of learning, it attracted many brilliant scholars, and its excellence\nmade Nalanda world famous. These great scholars of Nalanda produced a vast\nliterature in all branches of its various fields of learning.   It is\nsaid that it was in the field of logic that they made their greatest\ncontribution. Above all, it was a leading center for the dissemination of\nknowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RUTHLESS VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION BY\nMUSLIMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nalanda flourished up to the tenth\ncentury CE (about the end of the Classical Anuradhapura period of Sri Lanka).\nThereafter, political upheavals in India had serious negative impacts on\nNalanda.  Foreigners, the Turk-Afgan Muslims who invaded India from the\nnorthwest during this period, were fanatics who did not respect other people or\nother cultures. They took delight in destroying Indian cultural edifices and\nthe guardians of this culture, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year 1198, the Muslim invaders\nled by Mohammad Bakhtiar Khilji,  attacked and burnt down this great\nuniversity. They massacred its inmates, who at the time were mostly Buddhist\nmonks, and relentlessly and thoroughly demolished its buildings, of such unique\ndesign and purpose.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruthless Muslim Bakhtiar Khilji\nflattened the university to the ground.  Mirjah, a Muslim historian has\nleft a detailed and gruesome account of Khilji\u2019s vandalism and violence. The\ngigantic libraries of Nalanda, treasure-houses of knowledge with an estimated 9\nmillion books, were set on fire and left to burn for months. The result of\ncenturies of scholastic studies \u2013 books and manuscripts, were burnt and\ndestroyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a few monks managed to escape\nwith a few manuscripts to Tibet, Nepal and other neighboring countries.\nBuddhism and its centers of learning, disappeared under the brutal impact of\nMuslim fanaticism. With the university in ruins, Nalanda became a deserted and\ndesolate place, and the ruins were slowly swallowed up by the\njungle.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Daya Hewavitharana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewavitharana. Nalanda was the\u00a0first residential university in the history of the world. The Nalanda campus was an exceptionally impressive place, which included many impressive chetiyas, temples, monasteries, hostels, lecture halls, meditation halls, libraries, even parkland with lakes. The three great libraries of Nalanda were: Ratnasagara, Ratnadadhi and Ratnaranjaka. Inscriptional evidence (Yasovarmadeva) reveals that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}