QUOTE(LEGENDRAFI @ Feb 8 2007, 02:58 PM)
Firstly, will we survive till the 3000s
we sure will, just wait and watch.
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Nalanda, Is it really the oldest university ? The name came from Sanskrit: it means "giver of knowledge".
Nalam(lotus) is "a symbol of knowledge" and Da is "to give"
It is located about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 CE to 1197
CE partly under the Pala Empire. It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history.Nalanda in the time of the Buddha (500 BC)The Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nalanda. When he visited Nalanda he would
usually reside in Pāvārika's mango grove, and while there he had discussions with Upāli-Gahapati and
Dīghatapassī, with Kevatta, and also several conversations with Asibandhakaputta.
The Buddha visited Nālandā during his last tour through Magadha, and it was there that Sariputta uttered his
"lion's roar," affirming his faith in the Buddha, shortly before his death. The road from Rājagaha to Nālandā
passed through Ambalatthikā, and from Nālandā it went on to Pātaligāma. Between Rājagaha and Nālandā
was situated the Bahuputta cetiya.
According to the Kevatta Sutta, in the Buddha's time Nālandā was already an influential and prosperous
town, thickly populated, though it was not till later that it became the centre of learning for which it
afterwards became famous. There is a record in the Samyutta Nikaya, of the town having been the victim of
a severe famine during the Buddha's time. Sāriputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and
died in Nālandā.
Nālandā was the residence of Sonnadinnā. Mahavira is several times mentioned as staying at Nālandā,
which was evidently a centre of activity of the Jains. Mahavira is believed to have attained Moksha at
Pavapuri, which is located in Nalanda (also according to one sect of Jainism he was born in the nearby
village called Kundalpur).
King Asoka (250 BC) is said to have built a temple there. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna taught
there
The stupa of Sariputta at Nalanda.
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Nalanda, The University:The university was founded in 427 A.D. by Buddhist monks at the time of Kumaragupta I (415-455 A.D.),
Nalanda was one of the world's first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. Nalanda
played host to more than 10,000 students — not just Buddhists, but of various religious traditions — and
its education, provided in its heyday by 2,000 world-renowned professors, was completely free. The university was considered an "architectural masterpiece," and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate.
Glorious accountsThe Chinese scholar, Hsuen-Tsiang (or Xuanzang in today's Pinyin spelling), who visited India in 630 A.D.
under the Guptas and stayed for some time at Nalanda, has left us a vivid description of the university.
He wrote of "richly adorned towers" with observatories "lost in the vapours of the morning".
The university's
architecture was remarkable, with nine-storey buildings, eight separate compounds, ten temples, several
meditation halls, a great library and dozens of classrooms. Its setting, too, was full of beauty, dotted with
lakes and parks. Most important, its finances were secure, since the monarch "has remitted the revenues of
about 100 villages for the endowment of the convent". In addition, the villagers supplied food to the
students, whose material needs were entirely met by the university so that they could concentrate on "the
perfection of their studies".The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced.
So that the scholars can take those texts and study.
The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, Nalanda was an
extraordinary centre of learning for seven centuries and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan,
China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia, Sri Lanka and Turkey. The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left
detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.The University Seal
Click to view attachmentTrue Centre of learning:The accounts of foreign travellers portray a university throbbing with intellectual excitement, a centre of
learning devoted not only to the study of Buddhist texts but of Hindu philosophy, the Vedas, and theology in
general; logic, grammar and linguistics; the practice of medicine and the study of other sciences, notably
mathematics and astronomy; and more down-to-earth subjects like politics, the art of war and even
handicrafts. Contemporary visitors speak of a system of education that went well beyond the oral recitation
and rote-learning normally practised in monasteries.
Nalanda's teachers practised a variety of instructional
methods: exposition was followed by debate and discussion, lectures featured lengthy question-and-answer
sessions, and ideas were illuminated by extensive resort to parables and stories. Admission required a
strict oral examination; literally so, since strangers were not permitted to enter unless they could
satisfactorily answer a number of questions from the gatekeeper testifying to their basic level of educational
attainment. ( sounds better than 2day's IITs. System, campus, everything.
)
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Nalanda was, of course, not alone as a prominent Indian university. there were other universities too.
Kasi (Varanasi) and Kanchi were particularly renowned for their religious teaching, and Taksasila
(Taxila in today's Pakistan) placed greater emphasis on secular studies; but Nalanda combined the
religious and the secular.
Today, our universities, barring an IIT here and a St. Stephen's there, are a long
way short of world-class. Rebuilding Nalanda must be more than an exercise in constructive nostalgia.
It must involve a new level of ambition, or it will be a futile exercise.
Decline and End:Nalanda was destroyed three times by invaders, but only rebuilt twice. The first time was when the Huns
under Mihirakula laid waste the campus during the reign of Skandagupta (455-467 A.D.), when Nalanda
was only a few decades old. Skanda's successors Puragupta and Narasimhagupta promptly undertook the
restoration of the university, improving it with the construction of even grander buildings, and endowed it
with enough resources so that the university could be self-sustaining in the longer term. The second
destruction came a century and a half later, with an assault by the Gaudas in the early seventh century.
This time the great Hindu king Harshavardhana (606-648 A.D.) restored the Buddhist university, once again
upgrading the buildings and facilities.
In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was sacked by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji;
this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. It is said that Khilji asked if there was
a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it. When the Tibetan translator Chag
Lotsawa visited them in 1235, he found them damaged and looted, but still functioning with a small number
of monks. The destruction of the universities at Nalanda, as well as the destruction of many temples and
monasteries throughout northern India which housed centers of learning, is considered by many historians to
be responsible for the sudden demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy,
alchemy, and anatomy. Fortified Sena monasteries along the main route of the invasion were destroyed,
and being off the main route both Nalanda and Bodh Gaya survived. Many institutions off the main route
such as the Jagaddala Monastery in northern Bengal were untouched and flourishing.
The ruins of the university
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Plans for revival:On December 9, 2006, the New York Times detailed a plan in the works to spend $1 billion to revive
Nalanda University near the ancient site. A consortium led by Singapore and including India, Japan and
other nations will attempt to raise $500 million to build a new university and another $500 million to develop
necessary infrastructure.
Courtesy: Wikipedia and The Hindu
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Hi,
You know about any older university ? if yes, any online article ? I have been searching for, I knew
about nalanda but last few days I got more and more articles. Usually, Al-Azhar University is known
to be the 2nd oldest operating university in the world. and first one is University of Al Karaouine Fez,
Morocco. But Al Karaouine was founded in 859 AD and Al Azhar was in 988 AD.
Khobi jaan, didn't want to create another thread, so posted it here. Your title is also about history.
Let me know what you know about these. I know the above article is too long, so take your own time
to read and post.
Thanks a lot
Nature
Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo Egpyt
Click to view attachmentInterior of the Al Karaouine Mosque and University
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