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Monastery 1 granary, Nalanda Mahavihara. Photo: Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monastery_1_-_Granary_-_Nalanda_Mahavihara_(1).jpgDownload 1920px
Nalanda
Bihar, India, About 427 CE
lostreconstruction, imagined
UNESCO World Heritage Site; ASI-managed ruins open to visitors
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A reconstruction, imagined
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- visitedGenerated image, not a photograph. Based on the excavated monastery plan: a rectangular building round a central court with a verandah, an outer row of monks' cells, a shrine chamber facing the entrance, a well and drains, and staircases in the south-west corner. The three library buildings (Dharmaganja) are known only from later Tibetan tradition and none has been found. The image shows two storeys of cells, a central shrine with a seated Buddha, a stair and a well with drains. The walls look curved because of the image projection, not because the court was round. Some columns stand free under bare sky and carry nothing. Brick pillars, the stair position, the roofless tops, the shrine niche and the paving are guesses
Row of monks' cells
Object, in an imagined viewEvery excavated monastery at Nalanda is a rectangle with a central court, a verandah and an outer row of cells for the monks. The image shows two storeys of open cells with small niches round the court. The count, size and doorways are not tied to one monastery.
This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.
excavated wikipedia Source
The pillared verandah
Object, in an imagined viewExcavators found a pillared verandah around the court of several monasteries. Only the brick footing and plan survive. The image draws it as brick pillars on both storeys. The material, spacing and height are guesses; the timber posts and beams are not shown.
This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.
excavated wikipedia Source
The court well
Object, in an imagined viewThe sources give a well in the monastery court, with drains carrying water out. The image has a round brick well with drains running across the paving. The round shape, the curb, its size and the drain layout are the image's guess.
This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.
excavated secondary Source
Shrine opposite the entrance
Object, in an imagined viewSeveral monasteries have a central shrine chamber facing the entrance across the court. Monastery 1 held a colossal seated Buddha. The image has a seated Buddha in a deep niche. The niche, the figure and its size are invented.
This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.
excavated wikipedia Source
Stairs to an upper floor
Object, in an imagined viewThe excavated monasteries have staircases in the south-west corner. The image has a straight brick stair on the right side of the court. That position is not sourced. Xuanzang also mentions towers and upper rooms rising above the clouds, which excavations do not confirm in detail.
This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.
excavated wikipedia Source
No roof shown
Object, in an imagined viewThe image leaves the walls open to the sky, with no roof at all. Nothing excavated tells us how Nalanda's monasteries were roofed, so this is a gap, not a finding. The library is not in this view: the three Dharmaganja buildings known from Tibetan tradition have not been found.
This view is imagined. The thing described is a guess. No source records it for this library.
invented wikipedia Source
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The record
Room
Nalanda, room: Excavated site of 23 ha (UNESCO); building counts unproven
Worth knowing
Nalanda, worth knowing: Xuanzang gives the priests at Nalanda as several thousand. It is a traveller's round figure, not a count.
Nalanda, worth knowing: Xuanzang records a tradition that five hundred merchants bought the site for ten koti of gold pieces and gave it to the Buddha.
Nalanda, worth knowing: Xuanzang says a stranger who wanted to join the debates first met the keeper of the gate, who set hard questions. Many could not answer and left.
Nalanda, worth knowing: Xuanzang says monks who could not discuss questions from the Tripitaka were little esteemed and hid for shame.
Nalanda, worth knowing: Xuanzang says the discussions at Nalanda ran from morning till night and the day was not long enough for the questions and answers.
Built
Nalanda, built: c. 427
What remains
Nalanda, what remains: Ruins managed by the Archaeological Survey of India; ASI excavations 1915-1937 and 1974-1982
Nalanda, what remains: Archaeological site of 23 ha with stupas, chaityas, viharas, shrines, votive structures and stucco, stone and metal art works; remains date from c. 3rd c. BCE, main phase 5th-13th c. CE
Reconstruction
Nalanda, reconstruction: Xuanzang (Beal 1884): a high wall with one gate enclosed the sanghārāmas.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Xuanzang: monasteries added to the south, east, north-east, west and north of the first.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Xuanzang records a three-storeyed pavilion used for the assembly at Baladitya's monastery.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Site had a tank (Nalanda Naga) within an Amra (mango) grove.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Excavated vihara plan: rectangular, central quadrangular court, verandah, outer row of monk cells; shrine chamber facing entrance. Source is Wikipedia.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Later Tibetan tradition, not Xuanzang: library "Dharmaganja" of three large multi-storeyed buildings: Ratnasagara, Ratnodadhi, Ratnaranjaka. Not archaeologically identified.
Nalanda, reconstruction: Tibetan tradition: Ratnodadhi nine storeys, held Prajnaparamita Sutra and Guhyasamaja.
What happened here
427Nalanda, founded, 427: Founded by Kumaragupta I (Gupta)
1200Nalanda, destroyed, 1200: Attacked/burned by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji c. 1200; site kept operating for decades or centuries after; abandoned c. 1400
1847Nalanda, rediscovered, 1847: Surveyed by Buchanan-Hamilton 1811-12 without identifying it; identified as Nalanda by Kittoe 1847
1915Nalanda, excavated, 1915: ASI systematic excavation 1915-1937 (second phase 1974-1982)
Photographs
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Monastery 5 ruins, Nalanda Mahavihara. Photo: Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monastery_5_-_Nalanda_Mahavihara_(1).jpgDownload 1920px
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Temple 12 brickwork, Nalanda Mahavihara. Photo: Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_12_-_Nalanda_Mahavihara_(9).jpgDownload 1920px
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Stucco work on Temple 3, Nalanda Mahavihara. Photo: Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_3_-_Sariputta_Stupa_-_Stucco_Works_-_Nalanda_Mahavihara_(20).jpgDownload 1920px
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Temple 3 (Sariputta Stupa), Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar. Photo: Uphogaphy, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nalanda_The_Great_Stupa.jpgDownload 1920px
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Excavated monastery ruins at Nalanda, Bihar. Photo: Indianvagabond, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_No_3_at_Nalanda_Mahavihara.jpgDownload 1920px
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Temple 13, Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar. Photo: Rohit Sharma, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_13,_Nalanda_Mahavihara,_Bihar,_India.jpgDownload 1920px