The village of Nalanda, 90 km South-East of the state capital of the district of Patna is a historical place in Central Bihar, India.
It is an ancient cradle of learning, which already existed in the 5th century B.C during the lifetime of the Buddha.
Probably the earliest of universities, flourished until the 12th century and at its zenith had 2,000 teachers and 10,000 students.
Students studied the Buddhist scriptures of both the Mahayana and Theravada schools, the Vedas, Philosophy, Mathematics, Logic, Theology and Medicine. Education here was free as the university was supported by revenue collected from local villages.
In the 12th century, the university was completely destroyed by invading Turks, thereby ending the magnificent tradition of Buddhist learning in India. The place now lies in ruins. Excavations revealed a complex of lecture halls, gardens, dormitories and many stupas and stone statues of Buddha. Nalanda is now an uninhabited place.
Nalanda is an ancient city which is located in Bihar. This city is founded in the 5th century AD. Lord Buddha and the famous Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang visited this place several times and left various deeds for the welfare of mankind.
Nalanda is universally known for its university which is one of the oldest universities of ancient India. Moreover, the university of Nalanda was also first residential international university of the world.
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