Nâlandâ

Nālandā is a city of the state Bihar, in the India of north, close to the Nepal, old seat of an important Buddhist university center , cash with its apogee until 10 000 monks.

The university begin with the foundation from a monastery, under the name of Mahāvihāra - of mahā , large and will vihāra , monastery - by the Rāja Kumāragupta Ier of the dynasty Gupta in the middle of the 5th century. It grows quickly in importance and knows an international repute which attracts student monks of the Tibet, of Burma, of Indonesia (Sumatra and Java), but also of Korea or China like Xuanzang which in fact an enthusiastic description in its report of voyage.

Comprising buildings on several floors, a library and an observatory, it counts some four thousand students when Xuanzang remains there by twice at the time of its Indian tour. The access was made there by series of tests very difficult, Xuanzang entrusts to us that two thirds of the candidates fail. Beside the texts of the Buddhism mahāyāna whose knowledge is obligatory, one studies there the Veda S, the Upanishad, which are taught there by Brahmane S, the Cosmologie and the Logique nyāya, but also the Grammaire, the Médecine, which uses enormous a Pharmacopée and the Chirurgie and the Physique. The courses are fixed length, announced by the sound of a horn and regulated by a Clepsydre. The end of the studies ends in the defense of a thesis.

The sovereigns Pāla will embellish Nālandā and the university becomes an artistic hearth, in particular of bronze sculpture, which will influence the Buddhist world through the styles and subjects that the foreign students on their premises report after their stay of study. In the same way, of the foreign sovereigns invite Masters of Nālandā - as Padmasambhava - to come to teach in their country and thus most of what constitutes the Bouddhisme Tibetan is elaborate there. Nālandā is also used as model at other universities - as Odantapura or Vikramaśīla - soon based by rājas on their ground, new sources taking part in the propagation of Buddhism.

At the 9th century, Buddhism - fought by the new philosophies hindouists - between declining in India and about 1200, the university is destroyed by the Moslem invaders at the time of their incursions into the gangetic valley. An attempt at rebuilding fails, of the Brahmans putting fire at the new structures and the site is abandoned.

Except enormous the central Stupa of bricks and which had been increased six times, the excavations put at the day ten Monastère S or will vihāra built on the same plan.

In 1951, a modern center for the Buddhist studies is founded there.

Nālandā is also the name of two modern universities located at the Sri Lanka and Toronto with the Canada.

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