Nalanda,
where ruins of the great ancient university have been excavated, is situated
at a distance of 90 km. south east of Patna by road. It falls on way to Rajgir.
It is also linked by rail with Patna, Rajgir and Bakhtiyarpur.
Hieun Tsang, the renowned Chinese traveller of the seventh century, says that
according to tradition the place owed its name to a Naga of the same name which
resided in a local tank. But he thinks it more probable that Lord Buddha, in
one of his previous births as Bodhisatwa, became a king with his capital at
this place and that his liberality won for him and his capital the name Nalanda
or "Charity without intermission". The third theory about the name
of the place is that it derived from Nalam plus da. Nalam means lotus which
is a symbol for knowledge and Da means given the place had many lotuses.
Nalanda has a very ancient history. It was frequently visited by Lord Vardhamana
Mahavir and Lord Buddha in the 6th century BC. during his sajourns, the Lord
Buddha found this place prosperous, swelling, teeming with population and containing
mango-groves. It is also supposed to be the birth place of Sariputra, one of
the Chief disciple of the Lord Buddha.
The
great stupa flanked by flights of steps and terraces, votive stupas and beautiful
sculpture give the present day tourists a glimpse of the past glory that once
was Nalanda. Many of the stupas were two or even three times built one over
the other on the same spot. In the course of excavation it has been found that
the very small original structure was enlarged by later temples built over and
around the ruins of the earlier ones. The main stupa is the result of seven
successive accumulations of the shrine-chamber on the top, facing both, can
be approached by the staircase of the sixth period. It presumably contained
a colossal image of the Lord Buddha, as the pedestal therein would indicate.
Places to See : The Nalanda University Archaeological Complex,
the total area of the excavation is about 14 hectares. All the edifices are
of red brick and the gardens are beautiful. The buildings are divided by a central
walkway that goes south to north, the monasteries or "Viharas" are
east of this central alley and the temples of "Chaiyas" to the west.
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