name the two famous ancient universities long answer
Answers
Explanation:
Nalanda is an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India from 427 to 1197. Nalanda was
established in the 5th century AD in Bihar, India. Founded in 427 in northeastern India, not
far from what is today the southern border of Nepal, it survived until 1197. It was devoted to
Buddhist studies, but it also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy,
politics and the art of war.
The center had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and
parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so
that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students,
perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university’s
heyday and providing accommodations for 2,000 professors. Nalanda University attracted
pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.
A half hour bus ride from Rajgir is Nalanda, the site of the world's first University. Although
the site was a pilgrimage destination from the 1st Century A.D., it has a link with the Buddha
as he often came here and two of his chief disciples, Sariputra and Moggallana, came from this area. The large stupa is known as Sariputra's Stupa, marking the spotnotonly where his
relics are entombed, but where he was supposedly born.
The site has a number of small monasteries where the monks lived and studied and many of them were rebuilt over the centuries. We were told that one of the cells belonged to Naropa, who was instrumental in bringing Buddism to Tibet, along with suchNalandaluminaries as Shantirakshita and Padmasambhava. A small opening in the cell revealed a tiny room where Naropa supposedly meditated.
Nalanda's main importance comes from its Buddhist roots as a center of learning.Hsuan Tsang, the famous pilgrim from China came here and studied and taught for 5 years in the 7th Century A.D. Nalanda University at that time had over 10,000 students and 3,000 teachers.
For some 700 years, between the 5th and 12th Centuries, Nalanda was the center of
scholarship and Buddhist studies in the ancient world. A great fire wiped out the library of over 9 million manuscripts and at the beginning of the 12th Century, the Muslim invader
Takshashila, was an early Buddhist centre of learning. According to available references it is dated back to at least the 5th century BC. Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BC.
Takshashila is described in some detail in later in Jātaka tales, around the 5th century AD. It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries before Christ, andcontinued to attract students until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra
Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen
Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in
addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science.
The ruins of Taxila contain buildings and buddhist stupas located over a large area. The main
ruins of Taxila are divided into three major cities, each belonging to a distinct time period.
The oldest of these is the Hathial area, which yielded surface shards similar to burnished red
wares (or 'soapy red wares') recovered from early phases at Charsadda, and may date between
the 6th century BCE and the late 2nd millennium BCE. Bhir Mound dates from the 6th
century BCE. The second city of Taxila is located at Sirkap and was built by Greco-Bactrian
kings in the 2nd century BCE. The third and last city of Taxila is at Sirsukh and relates to the
Kushan kings.
In addition to the ruins of the city, a number of buddhist monasteries and stupas also belong
to the Taxila area. Some of the important ruins of this category include the ruins of the stupa
at Dharmarajika, the monastery at Jaulian, the monastery at Mohra Muradu in addition to a
number of stupas.
Legend has it that Takṣa, an ancient king who ruled a kingdom called Takṣa Khanda the
modern (Tashkent) founded the city of Takṣaśilā. However Sanskrit Takṣaśilā, appears to
contain the suffix śilā, "stone" with the prefix Takṣa, alluding to Takṣa, the son of Bharata
and Mandavi, as related in the Ramayana.
In the Mahābhārata, the Kuru heir Parikṣit was enthroned at Takṣaśilā. According to tradition
the Mahabharata was first recited at Takṣaśilā by Vaishampayana, a disciple of Vyasa at the
behest of the seer Vyasa himself, at the sarpa satra yajna, "Snake Sacrifice ceremony" of
Parikṣit's son Janamejaya.
