Baskadia

India's colleges and universities may not be among the top educational institutions in the world today, but there was a time when this country was a major center of education in the world. The world's first residential university was opened in India itself, which we know as Nalanda University. This university was established in 450 AD. Nalanda University was the most important and renowned center of higher education in ancient India.

The ancient Nalanda University was established by Kumaragupta I in the fifth century during the Gupta period. According to history, it was destroyed in 1193 after the invasion of Bakhtiyar Khilji. It is said that it was set on fire during the invasion. At that time there were so many books in the library of Nalanda University that the fire could not be extinguished for several weeks.

Many Dharmacharyas and Buddhist monks working here were also killed in this attack. The entire campus of the ancient Nalanda University was surrounded by a massive wall, which had a main gate for entry. There was a row of monasteries from north to south and in front of them were many grand stupas and temples. Beautiful idols of Lord Buddha were installed in the temples, which are now destroyed.

The remains of the walls of Nalanda University are still so wide that even a truck can be driven over them. The ruins of this world famous ancient Buddhist university are still situated in the south, 90 km from Patna and about 12 km from Bihar Sharif. Let us know 15 interesting facts about this great university.

Interesting facts about Nalanda University-

1. Nalanda University is a wonderful piece of architecture. You will be surprised to know that this university had 300 rooms, 7 large rooms and a huge 9-storey library for study. In which, at one time more than 3 lakh books were present.

2. Nalanda is considered to be the second oldest university in the world after Taxila. At the same time, this is the first university as a residential campus, it existed for 800 years.
3. In this university, students were selected on the basis of merit and here students were given free education. Along with this, their stay and food was also completely free.

4. At one time more than 10 thousand students used to study in this university and more than 2700 teachers used to teach them.
5. Not only India in Nalanda, but students from many other countries including Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Iran, Greece, Mongolia also used to come for studies.

6. Nalanda was founded in the 5th century by the ruler of the Gupta dynasty, Emperor Kumargupta. It also got the patronage of the great emperor Harshavardhana and the Pala rulers. Many such currencies have also been found during the excavation in Nalanda, which also confirms this.

7. The purpose of establishing this university was to create a place for meditation and spirituality. It is also said that Gautam Buddha visited here many times and meditated here.
8. According to history, there was a library named 'Dharma Gunj' in Nalanda University. It meant 'Mountain of Truth'. There were three parts in the 9 floors of the library, namely 'Ratnaranjak', 'Ratnoddhi', and 'Ratnasagar'.
9. In Nalanda, students were taught many subjects including Literature, Astrology, Psychology, Law, Astronomy, Science, Warfare, History, Maths, Architect, Language Science, Economic, Medicine

10. The history of Nalanda University was discovered by Hansang and Etsing of China. Both of them came to India in the 7th century. Both of them wrote extensively about Nalanda after their return to China and described it as the world's largest university.

11. One special thing about this university was that, here all the work was done through democratic system. Any decision was taken with the consent of all. Meaning, teachers and students also used to give their opinion along with the sanyasis.
12. Remains of Nalanda University have been found here in 1.5 lakh square feet during the excavation. It is believed that this is only 10 percent of the university.
13. The word Nalanda is derived from the union of three Sanskrit words Na + Alam + Da. It means 'to put no restriction on the gift of knowledge'.
14. New Nalanda University has been built on the lines of Nalanda in Rajgir, Bihar. It was established on 25 November 2010.

Some beautiful picture of Nalanda University-

Thank you for reading this. It is the culture of India and I think we all should know about this.