http://7wondersofindia.ndtv.com/thanks_final.aspx?voteid=166
It's a poll conducted by NDTV and Nalanda University, despite being in top 20, is still lagging behind some other monuments in India to get into Top 7.
It would be a befitting tribute to the Nalanda University at a time when serious efforts are being made at International level to revive this great University.China,Japan and Singapore is keenly involved in this project.The gloray of the university can be understood from the fact that its heritage is often called as collective "Asian heritage" and revival as " Asian Renaissance" .
It's a poll conducted by NDTV and Nalanda University, despite being in top 20, is still lagging behind some other monuments in India to get into Top 7.
It would be a befitting tribute to the Nalanda University at a time when serious efforts are being made at International level to revive this great University.China,Japan and Singapore is keenly involved in this project.The gloray of the university can be understood from the fact that its heritage is often called as collective "Asian heritage" and revival as " Asian Renaissance" .
Ruins of the University.
If this topic interests you then here is more details :
If this topic interests you then here is more details :
Nalanda University (Founded in 414-445 A.D by Gupta emperors, notably Kumaragupta, Located at Nalanda 55 miles away from Patna)
The ancient university of Nalanda was world's first residential university in recorded history.In its heyday it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks.. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced.
It attracted pupils and scholars not only from all parts of India but also from foreign countries like Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey . The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university who visited India in the 7th century.He spent many years in this university both as a student and as a teacher.
Even today you can see the majestically built classrooms, compounds, temples and meditation halls proclaiming its bygone architectural charm.The each and every particle of the ruins seems to be spreading the rays of knowledge and peace.
Dating more than one thousand years back, the ruined university complex still boasts of its past glory and pride.
Ruins of the University.
Oldest university
The oldest extant universities in the world -- in continuous operation -- date back to around 1200 years ago, and they are all outside the United States. The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco (founded 859 AD), is listed as the world's oldest, continually-operating, degree-granting university, followed by Cairo's Al Azhar University (975 AD).
European universities all came in the next millennium with Bologna (1088), Paris (1150), and Oxford (1167) listed as the oldest. Nalanda preceded all of them, having been founded around 450 AD under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, although some records date it back to 500 BC around the time of Buddha. It functioned till 1193 when it was sacked by the armies of Bakhtiyar Khilj
Libraries
Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for months when set aflame by foreign invaders. The library had three main buildings as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and Ratnarañjaka (Delighter of Jewels).
The seal of Nalanda University set in terracotta on display in the ASI Museum in Nalanda
Curriculum
...virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available.. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, mathematics,astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise.
In brief , it was a treasure of invaluable books, manuscripts and knowledge.
Influence on Buddhism
The University was instrumental in the spread of Buddhism and Indian culture in Vietnam, China, Korea Japan and Tibet
Decline and end
In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by Bakhtiyar Khalji, a Turk who was the general of Mohammed Gauri.The Persian historian Minhaz, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded and the burning of the library contin ued for several months and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.
The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa.
When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students.
Thus the destruction of the great centers of learning at Nalanda and Vikramshila ( another University located near Bhagalpur) marked an end to the ancient Indian scientific thought and progress in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.What Indians had created and achieved over centuries through their hard work,dedication and innovation was destroyed in a moment by the invading armies of Islam , marking a shift of knowledge center from India to elsewhere.
Even Bihar suffered hugely with the destructions of two great centers of learning (Nalanda and Vikramshila destroyed in the same year )as its pre-eminent position in the field of education was lost...It had already lost the political glory after the decline of Mauryas,Guptas and Pals.It shot into prominence for a small period under the rule of Sher Shah (1540-1545) whose reign is remembered for his outstanding work in the field of infrastructure like roads , bridges etc.The famous GT road was built by him.But , its lost glory could never be restored.
Plans for revival: