4 में से Lesson 4 · 7 min
Nalanda, Vikramshila and Odantapuri: Bihar's Great Universities
Who founded each mahavihara, what was taught, the scholars who studied there, how they fell, and the new Nalanda University.
Not just monasteries
A mahavihara was a large Buddhist monastery that also worked as a university. Monks and lay students lived in cells around courtyards, studied with teachers, debated in halls and used large libraries. Bihar had the three most famous ones in Asia.
| University | Where | Founded by | Remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nalanda | Nalanda district | Kumaragupta I (Gupta, 5th century) | Xuanzang, I-tsing; library Dharmaganja; UNESCO 2016 |
| Vikramshila | Antichak, Bhagalpur | Dharmapala (Pala, late 8th century) | Tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhism; Atisha Dipankara |
| Odantapuri | Bihar Sharif | Gopala (first Pala king) | Model for Samye monastery in Tibet |
Nalanda
- Founded by Kumaragupta I in the 5th century CE, and later supported by Harshavardhana and the Pala kings. Gifts also came from the Shailendra king of Java-Sumatra, Balaputradeva, who built a monastery here in the 9th century.
- Entry was by a tough oral test at the gate, held by gatekeeper scholars.
- Subjects: Mahayana philosophy, the Vedas, logic (hetuvidya), grammar, medicine and astronomy.
- Its library, Dharmaganja, had three great buildings: Ratnasagara, Ratnodadhi and Ratnaranjaka.
- Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) studied here for years under the abbot Silabhadra in the 7th century. I-tsing came later the same century.
- The ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
Vikramshila
- Founded by the Pala king Dharmapala at Antichak near Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur.
- A centre of Vajrayana (tantric) Buddhism, with a central stupa surrounded by monks' cells.
- Its most famous teacher, Atisha Dipankara Srijnana, travelled to Tibet in the 11th century and helped revive Buddhism there.
- A central university at Vikramshila was announced in 2024.
Odantapuri
- Founded by Gopala, the first Pala king, at Uddandapura, today's Bihar Sharif.
- Tibetan tradition says the Samye monastery, Tibet's first, was planned on its model.
The fall, and a new beginning
Around 1193–1205, the Turkish general Bakhtiyar Khalji raided Odantapuri, Nalanda and Vikramshila. Monks were killed or fled to Tibet and Nepal, and the libraries burned. The Persian writers called the region "Bihar" after its many viharas.
The idea was revived in modern times: the Nalanda University Act, 2010, set up an international university near Rajgir with support from East Asia Summit countries, and its new campus was inaugurated in 2024.
Exam tip: Match founder to university: Kumaragupta → Nalanda, Dharmapala → Vikramshila, Gopala → Odantapuri. Questions also ask which pilgrim studied at Nalanda (Xuanzang) and where Atisha came from (Vikramshila).