Leaders Online; Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Nalanda University today (Wednesday). Now it is being said that the university is returning to its old form.
Nalanda University is returning to its old form after a wait of almost 800 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new campus of this university. Along with the inauguration of the new campus of the university, the history of the university is also being discussed.
In fact, the ancient history of Nalanda, the world's first residential university, is so long that many books have been written about it. It is said that Nalanda had already built its heritage of hundreds of years when universities started to be built in the world.
What is the history of Nalanda when the new campus of the university was inaugurated, which great people studied here and what kind of studies was Nalanda famous for?
How old is Nalanda?
When one talks about the top universities in the world, the names of Oxford and Cambridge come to mind. But Nalanda University is older than that. Nalanda is composed of three words. No, Alam and Da. It means a gift that knows no bounds. It was built during the Gupta period in the 5th century and became a great university in the 7th century.
It was part of a large Buddhist monastery. Its boundary is said to have spread over about 57 acres. Along with this, many reports claim that the school is even bigger. According to some records, it was built on a mango orchard, which was given to Gautama Buddha by some merchants.
Discovered in the 19th century
The modern world came to know about this university during the 19th century. This university was buried in the ground for many centuries. In 1812, the intellectual statues were discovered by local people in Bihar, after which many foreign historians studied them. After that information was received.
Who was coming to study?
Nalanda University was very famous. At that time, many great teachers had imparted their rich knowledge to their students from time to time. These great teachers include Nagarjuna, Buddhapalita, Shantarakshita and Aryadeva to name a few. If we talk about the people studying here, people from many countries were coming to study here. Famous Chinese travelers and scholars Hen Tsang, Fa Hian and It Tsing came here to study. Hwen Sang was a disciple of Shilabhadra of Nalanda. Hwen Tsang studied law at Nalanda University for 6 years.
How big was the campus?
The magnificence of this university was such that it had 300 rooms, 7 large rooms and a 9 storied library for study. The university was spread over several acres. A 9 storied library was built here for the study of each subject. More than 90 lakh books were kept in that library. It is said that when this library was set on fire, the books were burning for 3 months. From this we can estimate how many books there will be in this library. The story of this university is that this knowledge of India has been enlightening the world for centuries.
What was being taught?
This university has been considered as a repository of knowledge. Apart from religious texts, many subjects such as literature, theology, logic, medicine, philosophy, astronomy were taught here. It is said that the subjects taught in this university were not taught anywhere else. This university continued to lead the world on the path of knowledge for 700 years.
What is the story of destruction?
Nalanda had to face many crises. After its 700 years of great pilgrimage, it was burnt down by Bakhtiyar Khilji in an invasion in the 12th century. It is said that once Bakhtiar Khilji fell very ill. After that he was treated in many ways. There are many things related to this. In it, it is said that he burnt down the university in anger at the treatment meted out to him.
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