Nalanda University Historical Facts and Pictures

Nalanda, an ancient religious higher learning center, located around 88 km south-east of Patna in Bihar, India, is now one of the most visited historical and architectural landmarks of the country. The institution was supported by the Hindu Gupta rulers, Buddhist emperors like Harshavardhana as well as the later Pala Emperors. Flourishing during the rule of Śakrāditya of the Gupta Empire, Nalanda was active as a center of education between 5th century AD and 1197 AD. The true identity of Śakrāditya is a subject of debate as historians are still unable to find out whether he was Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II.

Nalanda University

Nalanda University Images

Nalanda University Pictures

Nalanda University

Nalanda University Inside

Inside of Nalanda University

Nalanda University Inside

Nalanda University Ruins

Nalanda Buddhist University Ruins

Nalanda University Ruins Pictures

Nalanda University Ruins

The whole complex was divided into three separate building – the Ratnasagara, the Ratnadadhi, and the Ratnaranjaka. Now, the ruins of the ancient red brick complex occupy an area of about 14 hectares. At its prime, students and scholars from far away countries like China, Greece and Persia came to the university to learn and teach. Nalanda was destroyed in the year of 1193 by a Turkic Muslim army led by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji, the military general of the Turkic ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak. In 2006, the countries of China, India, Singapore and Japan proposed a plan to revive and restore the ancient ruins as the Nalanda International University.