write eassy on The Nalanda university of ancient india in two pages
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Western establishments like Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, Harvard, etc. have been sanctified for their education and guidance for the past two centuries. However, a thousand years prior to the worldwide colonization of Europeans, Asian centers of learning such as Nalanda Mahavihara of Magadha were renowned for their academic excellence. The architecture of the Buddhist monastic center was similar to our modern university towns, which provide lodging and boarding for their students.
Founded in 427 C.E., Nalanda Mahavihara, or Nalanda University, lasted for over 700 hundred years. It survived political waves, the rise and fall of civilizations, religious wars, and the birth of intellectual greats for almost a millennium before the Turks destroyed it.
In a 1917 notice by the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, archeologist David Spooner detailed the discovery of a 24-feet high wall, 600 clay tables, and 211 uniquely carved stone panels surrounding the Baladitya temple, situated in modern-day Bihar. The digging performed around a kilometer square of Nalanda district was counted as one of the most beautiful marvels of its time.
Antiquarian artifacts found on the Nalanda University site are categorized under daily use objects and bronze ritualistic materials. Hundreds of other archaeological shreds of evidence were dug up near Nalanda: clay seals, terracotta ornaments, and metal figurines of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist icons. Symbols and panels from the Pala period, discovered by Dr. Spooner in 1915, are conserved at the Nalanda Museum.
A few manuscripts and inscriptions were also found during the excavation. Fleeing monks preserved the manuscripts by taking it with them. Three of them include Dharanisamgraha’s folios (1075 AD) displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita is at the Asia Society center and 139 leaves and painted wooden pages are available at Yarlung Museum, Tibet.
Legend has it that Nalanda University land was purchased for 10 kotis (old currency form) of gold pieces by five hundred merchants. They gifted the land to Lord Buddha, who preached under a Pāvārikāmbavana (mango grove of Pavarika) for several years. Another scholar writes that the university was founded by Kumaragupta I of the Gupta Dynasty (415-455 CE). The succeeding Gupta Emperors promptly invested in the religious and epistemic growth of the university. Under their reign, the building had eight monasteries, 11,000 cells, three libraries, and around 2000 pupils in attendance. The monks and students of the university survived on the generosity and grace of their contemporary rulers. Between 606-647 CE, Nalanda owned 200 villages nearby with the grace of many generations of Pala kings. The land allotted to the Indian monasteries attracted the Turk invasions in the next centuries
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