Nalanda University

It is believed that Nalanda University was established in the fifth century  by Shakraditya ( Kumar Gupta I) of the Gupta dynasty who was the ruler of Magadha .It has been mentioned in history that Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha stayed here. Evidence has been found that there were several temples at this place during the reign of Emperor Ashoka but Nalanda University came into existence during the Gupta dynasty .

According to known history, it is considered the worlds first residential university, where more than 10,000 teachers and students lived together. Learners and researchers from Japan, Korea , China , Tibet , Indonesia , Turkey , Greece and Persia used to come here .Religion , spirituality , history ,law,architecture, chemistry ,astronomy , Ayurveda , metallurgy and sculpture are a few of the subjects which were taught here. Chinese traveller Hsuan-tsang, who came to India in the seventh century, stayed here for 15 years.

The campus itself was considered a masterpiece of architecture.In addition to eight complexes and 10 temples . there were several meditation and study rooms within the sprawling campus. The vast library was located in a nine storey building . It is said that when the Ottoman invaders set it to fire, it kept burning for three months due to the millions of books it had.

This university was targeted three times by invaders. Hun invader Mihirkula attacked it first in the time of Shakraditya. His successor, the Gupta ruler , defeated Mihirkula with the help of Yashodharman , who was the ruler of ,Malwa. and rebuit it . In the seventh century, the Gaur rulers of Bengal also tried to destroy it. Then Harshavardhan rebuilt it . In the 12th century , Ottoman invader Bakhtiyar Khilji wrecked not only Nalanda but many Buddhist temples in this area

In British times , an attempt was made to locate this site by geographer Buchanan Hamilton. But the real work to mark out this place was done by Alexander Cunningham.The excavation conducted by ASI , unearthed the current structure.