NALANDA UNIVERSITY TERM PAPER RDL 340 (TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT)

SUBMITTED BY: RAJ KUMAR MEENA (2008CH10092) UDAY SHANKER (2008CH10086) GROUP-1

Introduction Nalanda means "insatiable in giving. "

Nalanda is an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 to 1197 CE.

Some buildings were constructed by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka the Great which is an indication of an early establishment of the Buddhist learning center Nalanda. The Gupta Empire also patronized some monasteries. According to historians, Nalanda flourished between the reign of the Gupta king Sakraditya (also known as Kumaragupta, reigned 415-55) and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from Buddhist emperors like Harsha as well as later emperors from the Pala Empire.

Nalanda was sacked by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1193, a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the Mughals set fire to it, sacked and destroyed the monasteries, and drove the monks from the site.

Historical Background

Nalanda has a very ancient history and goes back to the days of Mahavira and Buddha in sixth and fifth centuries B.C. Many references in the Pali Buddhist literature mention about Nalanda. It is said that in course of his journeys Buddha often halted at this place. Nalanda acquired sanctity as having being the birth place of Sariputra, one of the famous disciples of Buddha. Taranath a buddhist philosopher states that Asoka worshipped at the chaitya of Sariputra and erected a temple here. Taranath also connects Aryadeva with Nalanda. Further Asanga a buddhist philosopher of great repute (5th Century A.D.) is said to have spent 12 years of his life and was succeeded by his brother Vasubandhaa as the high priest of Nalanda. According to the Jain text Mahavira spent as many as 14 rainy seasons over there.

Another important mention in history, is that around second century, Suvishnu built one hundred and eight temples at Nalanda to prevent the decline of the Hinayana and Mahayana schools of Buddhism. Nalanda not only enjoys a special place in the history of Buddhism but also in the history of art, religion, architecture and scriptures as it is a great monastic - cum educational institution for Buddhist art and learning in the whole world and has attracted students from distant countries like China, Korea etc from 5th Century A.D. onwards. The real importance of Nalanda began during the Gupta rule in the 5th Century A.D. The monasteries of Nalanda were the creation of the Gupta emperors beginning with Kumaragupta I. Harshavardhana of Kanauj also helped the development of the Institution by his munificence. He built a monastery of brass here as has been recorded by the great traveler Hiuen Tsang in his chronicler. As has been recorded by Hiuen Tsang that a long succession of kings continued the work of building using all skills till the whole is a marvelous creation. In the time of the Palas,

Nalanda rose even to a greater importance. They established other monasteries such as Vikramshila , Somapura, Odantapuri and Jagaddala which must have created a diversion in the activities of the Buddhist scholars. It was during this period that celebrities like Padmasambhava, a great luminary of Nalanda visited Tibet. There were many renowned scholars who by their deep learning and excellence of conduct maintained the dignity, which Nalanda enjoyed. Early Mahayana philosophers Nagarjuna, Aryaveda Asanga and Vashubandhu were the high priests of Nalanda. Next in point of chronology comes the name of Dinnaga who also received the title "tarka -pungava". Dharmapala Silabhadra, Dharmakriti were some of the famous scholars of Nalanda whose excellence used to attract best students from different corners of the world. The fame of these scholars spread to distant countries and persisted through ages. Overview Students Nalanda attracted students from many countries in the world, particularly china and Tibet, Korea and Japan and the rest of Asia, but a few also from as far in the west as turkey. Nalanda a residential university, had at its peak 10,000 students, studying various subjects from 2,000 teachers. Chinese students in particular, such as Xuanzang and Yi Jing in the seventh century, wrote extensively on what they saw and what they particularly admired about the education standard in Nalanda. Incidentally, Nalanda is the only non-Chinese institution in which any Chinese scholar was educated in the history of ancient china.

It is also important to recognize that while Nalanda was very special, it was still a part of larger tradition of organized higher education that developed in that period in India – in Bihar in particular. In addition to Nalanda there were in the vicinity other such institution such as Vikramshilla and Odantapuri. Indeed Xuangzang wrote about them too even though he himself studied in Nalanda there was a larger social culture to which Nalanda belonged and this is important to recollect in thinking about the tradition of Nalanda. Architecture The university was an architectural and environmental masterpiece. It had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks and the library of Nalanda, known as Dharma Gunj (Mountain of Truth) or Dharmaganja (Treasury of Truth), was the most renowned repository of Buddhist knowledge in the world at the time. Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for months when set aflame by Muslim invaders. The library had three main buildings

as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and Ratnaranjaka (Delighter of Jewels). Monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students (as shown below), perhaps a first for an educational institution.

Curriculum Since the documents in nalanda were indiscriminatingly burnt by Bakhtiyar and his conquering army there is no proof of what actually was taught in nalanda. So relying on the accounts of students who wrote about what they had seen the subjects were known. From the record of Ising in 673A.D.a detailed picture of the subject studied in Nalanda . His work not only records the minute details about the kind of life he led in Nalanda but also talks about the curriculum which besides the Buddhist scriptures included logic, metaphysics and a very extensive study of Sanskrit grammar. It also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war.

Administration The institution was maintained by the revenue collected from the villages bestowed specifically for the purpose by the contemporary rulers as evident from inscriptions. Royal patronage was therefore the keynote of the prosperity and efficiency of Nalanda Decline and end The university died a slow death about the time that some of the great European universities, including those in Oxford, England, and Bologna, Italy, were just getting started, and more than half a millennium before Harvard or Yale were established. Its demise was a result of waning enthusiasm for Buddhism in India, declining financial support from successive Indian monarchs and corruption among university officials. The final straw was the burning of the buildings by Muslim invaders from what is now Afghanistan. In 1193, the university was sacked by the Islamic fanatic Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk. This event is seen by scholars as a late milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword; the burning of the library continued for several months and smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills. The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students. During Chag Lotsawa's time there an incursion by Turkish soldiers caused

the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, remnants of the debilitated Buddhist community continued to struggle on under scare resources until 1400 CE when Chagalaraja was reportedly the last king to have patronized Nalanda. Excavation

Nalanda is primarily an archaeological site exposed during the excavations conducted by Archaeological Survey of India during 1915-37 and 1974-82. There are references that the city was spread over an area of sixteen square kilometers of which only an area of around square kilometer is excavated.

The remains of Nalanda have been extensively excavated as a result of which the ruins of a large number of structures extending length wise from South to North along a range of monasteries along the East side have come to light. The temples thronged by small stupas along the west of an avenue have also been revealed. Even in their ruinous state they are conspicuous enough to enable one to visualize the glory of Nalanda Mahavira in its palming days. Nalanda exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental art, town planning or landscape design. Most of the structures date from the Pala period though a number of them have an earlier nucleous. The campus has rows of magnificent stupas placed side by side forming a central monumental axis. Parallel to and on both sides of this axis were monasteries along with establishments for housing students aspiring to become monks. Eleven monasteries have been unearthed; nine in a row, facing West and two adjoining them at right angles on the Southern side. The monasteries were imposing rectangular building. All the monasteries bear indications of having being rebuilt again and again, without any material deviation from a original plan, after natural decay or conflagration.

These monasteries or Viharas were planned around a central open court. These functioned both as units of residence as well as learning. The lower storey contained the refectory, areas of instructions and communal worship, while the upper floor built in timber was quadrangle of cells for resident students. Each subsequent higher storey was stepped back from the previous one to create open-air terraces for the cells. These were used by more preserving students who had graduated to an advanced stage of learning. A number of such monasteries were built close to each other like many colleges in a university campus. The architectural members were richly carved, painted and ornamented. Detail descriptions are available in accounts of the Chinese pilgrims about the place and this was destined to be of the Buddhist architecture in India.

All the temples were surrounded with the votive stupas of varying sizes. They mostly contained in their cores, tablets, bearing the Buddhist creeds or Dharanis or bricks inscribed with the Pratitya Samutpata Sutras. A large number of sculptures have been found from Nalanda. Nalanda not only has the images of Buddha and Bodisattavas but also such Bajrajana deities as Jhambhala Trailokyavijaya, Tara, Aparajita and Marichi. The presence of Brahmanical images at these centre of Buddhist theology is a interesting feature. Mention should be made of red painted Vishnu, Balarama, Durga, Mahisasuramardini and Ganesha.

Cultural Resources of Nalanda The antiquities have been exhibited for the visitors in the nearby museum maintained by Archaeological Survey of India. The site is protected by Archaeological Survey of India and is recognized as national monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Site and Remains Act 1958. After exposing the site, throughout the period, repairs have been carried out using original materials and traditional methods due to which authenticity of the site remains undisturbed. Nalanda is primarily an archaeological site and retains its original location and settings. It is still not much disturbed by the forces of urbanization, industrialization or modernization. Nalanda has also maintained the authenticity of form and design. It demonstrates a systematic layout and a remarkable uniformity in the construction plan of monastic units. It preserves a number of art forms at a single place which include sculptures representing classical Gupta art of imperial character; sculptures representing Medieval Eastern Indian Regional Style namely the Pala School of Art; mural painting tradition, tradition of stucco figures; the art of bronze images; and number of very important inscriptions over stone, seal or sealing. In a way the place preserves a living tradition. The Nav-

Nalanda Mahavihar is a modern institution under Government of India. It still attracts national and international Buddhist community for imparting education specially Buddhist language (Pali) and literature, as in the ancient times.

Recent developments

To re-establish Nalanda university have become issue of international importance especially to Asian countries. The idea of the university was first mooted in the late 1990s but it was President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's initiative in early 2006 that gave shape to the project at the ancient site of Buddhist learning.

Revival of an ancient university in India called Nalanda, is a topic now have gained attention in East Asian summit with most of the Asian countries are willing to support the cause economically and educationally. As they have realized its importance in the impact it will provide on Asia’s role in the world, or the revolutionary impact it could make on global higher education.

Rebuilding Nalanda University will influence the rise of Asia in the “knowledge age” and it will also show the ability of the Asian countries to interact peacefully and constructively pool their individual strengths for the betterment of their region and the world beyond it.

The Nalanda University Act was passed in Parliament during November 2010, in line with the recommendations given by the mentor group headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

The making of the architectural plans for the campus and the buildings is in high gear right now, along with securing and looking after the land that the Bihar government has given to the university.

At the moment the bulk of the expenses are being met by the Government of India, through the Planning Commission, which is also helping in sorting out the administrative hurdles. There have been promises of contributions from abroad, both from

governmental and non-governmental sources (from China, Singapore, Australia, Laos and elsewhere). But there is a long way to go in firming up the financial base of the university.

Conclusion Nalanda represents much of what Asia could use today — a great global university that reaches deep into the region’s underlying cultural heritage, restores many of the peaceful links among peoples and cultures that once existed, and gives Asia the kind of soft power of influence and attraction that it doesn’t have now. Asia could and should do the same, using the Nalanda project as a springboard but creating a modern, future-oriented context for a new university.

The rebuilt university should strive to be a great intellectual center, as the original Nalanda once was. This will be exceedingly difficult to achieve; even today, Asia’s best universities have a long way to go to be in the top tier.

The new Nalanda should try to recapture the global connectedness of the old one. All of today’s great institutions of higher learning are straining to become more international in terms of their student body, their professors, their research and their course content. But Asian universities are way behind. A new Nalanda, starting, as it will from scratch, could set a benchmark for mixing nationalities and cultures, for injecting energy and direction into global subjects and for developing true international leaders.

Reference: 1. Really old school, published by Jeffrey E. Garten, former dean of

the Yale School of Management, is a professor of international trade and finance, The New York Times, December 9, 2006.

2. Excavated remains of Nalanda, submitted by ASI, UNESCO, January 9, 2009

3. Vision for new Nalanda, Professor Amartya Sen, September 19,2011

4. The Bihar, Right to education revival of Nalanda, a webzine of Bihar society, issue: February 2011

5. The Nalanda University Bill 2010, ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

6. Nalanda digital library, NIT Calicut.