Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A. (Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D.
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
Mrs Sudha Rani Maheshwari, M.Sc (Zoology), B.Ed.
Former Principal, A.K.P.I.College, Roorkee, India
It is well-known that with the rise of Buddhism in India there dawned the golden age of India’s culture and civilisation. There was progress in all aspects of Indian civilisation under the impact of Buddhism. With the rise of Buddhism in India, there arose many centres of learning which did not exist before. Buddhist monks could opt for a life of meditation in the forests, or a life of teaching, preaching, propagating the Dharma as a result of the activities of the teaching monks, seats of learning arose. These seats of monastic learning (Pirivenas) gradually developed and some of them became full-fledged universities.
In the ancient period Buddhist Monasteries and in the later period Buddhist Universities played major role in developing Buddhist Education. In the institutions teachers were highly qualified and sincere to their duties. The main aim of Buddhist Education is to make a free man, an intelligent man, a wise, moral, talented, non-violent and secular man. Buddhist Education makes man judicious, humanist, logical and free from superstitions
The main centre of Buddhist Education was sangharama (Monastery / Vihara, Temple) where monks and samanaras reside sangharamas were open to all. Here students from different caste, creed, colour and religion got free admission. Buddhism was a strong protest against orthodox Vedic (Hindu) religion and also Education System. Buddhism established democracy, universalism and monastic life. There was no racial discrimination and nobody was deprived of his rights. Buddhist Monasteries became the Centre of Education.
Takshshila
Taxila was very famous, this can be deduced from the fact that it is mentioned in several languages: in Sanskrit, the city was called Takshaçila, which may be interpreted as “prince of the serpent tribe”; in Pâli it was known as Takkasilâ; the Greeks knew the town as Taxila (Ταξίλα), which the Romans rendered as Taxilla; the Chinese called it Chu Ch’a-shi-lo. The ruins are some 30 kilometers northwest of modern Islamabad in Pakistan.
Taxila is a vast complex of ruins, some 30 km north-west of modern Islamabad, which includes a Mesolithic cave (Khanpur cave), four settlement sites (Saraidala, Bhir, Sirkap and Sirsukh), a number of Buddhist monasteries of various periods and above Giri, Muslim mosques and madrasas of the medieval period. The Bhir mound is the earliest historic city of Taxila and was probably founded in the 6th century BC by the Achaemenids, according to legend by a son of the brother of the legendary hero Rama. The first town was situated on a hill that commanded the river Tamra Nala, a tributary of the Indus. It was an important cultural centre and it is said that the Mahabharata was first recited at Taxila. Stone walls, house foundations and winding streets represent the earliest forms of urbanization on the subcontinent.
Taxila is known from references in Indian and Greco-Roman literary sources and from the accounts of two Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Faxian and Xuanzang. Literally meaning “City of Cut Stone” or “Rock of Taksha,” Takshashila (rendered by Greek writers as Taxila) was founded, according to the Indian epicRamayana, by Bharata, younger brother of Rama, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The city was named for Bharata’s son Taksha, its first ruler. The great Indian epic Mahabharata was, according to tradition, first recited at Taxila at the great snake sacrifice of King Janamejaya, one of the heroes of the story. Buddhist literature, especially the Jatakas, mentions it as the capital of the kingdom of Gandharaand as a great centre of learning. Gandhara is also mentioned as a satrapy, or province, in the inscriptions of the Achaemenian (Persian) king Darius I in the 5th century BCE. Taxila, as the capital of Gandhara, was evidently under Achaemenian rule for more than a century. When Alexander the Greatinvaded India in 326 BCE, Ambhi (Omphis), the ruler of Taxila, surrendered the city and placed his resources at Alexander’s disposal. Greek historians accompanying the Macedonian conqueror described Taxila as “wealthy, prosperous, and well governed.”
Within a decade after Alexander’s death, Taxila was absorbed into the Mauryan empire founded byChandragupta, under whom it became a provincial capital. However, this was only an interlude in the history of Taxila’s subjection to conquerors from the west. After three generations of Mauryan rule, the city was annexed by the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria. It remained under the Indo-Greeks until the early 1st century BCE. They were followed by the Shakas, or Scythians, from Central Asia, and by the Parthians, whose rule lasted until the latter half of the 1st century CE.
According to early Christian legend, Taxila was visited by the apostle Thomas during the Parthian period. Another distinguished visitor was the neo-Pythagorean sage Apollonius of Tyana (1st century CE), whose biographer Philostratus described Taxila as a fortified city that was laid out on a symmetrical plan and compared it in size to Nineveh (ancient city of the Assyrian empire).
Taxila was taken from the Parthians by the Kushans under Kujula Kadphises. The great Kushan ruler Kanishka founded Sirsukh, the third city on the site. (The second, Sirkap, dates from the Indo-Greek period.) In the 4th century CE the Sāsānian king Shāpūr II (309–379) seems to have conquered Taxila, as evidenced by the numerous Sāsānian copper coins found there. There is little information about the Sāsānian occupation, but, when Faxian visited the city at about the beginning of the 5th century CE, he found it a flourishing centre of Buddhist sanctuaries and monasteries. Shortly thereafter it was sacked by the Huns; Taxila never recovered from this calamity. Xuanzang, visiting the site in the 7th century CE, found the city ruined and desolate, and subsequent records do not mention it.
Due to geographical situation and prosperity, Takshshila had to suffer the disasters of foreign invasions. It saw many ups and downs. As a result of these political changes the educational atmosphere of the “Gurukul‘ was also influenced, resulting in changes in the system. This place was conquered by Persians in the 6th century B.C., in 2nd century B.C. by Greeks, in 1stcentury B.C. by ‘Sakas‘, in 1stcentury A.D. by Kushans and in 5thcentury A.D. by Huns. The ruins of the city prove that it was destroyed and rebuilt many a times.
“The Jatakas contain 105 references to Takshasila. “The fame of Takshasila as a seat of learning was, of course, due to that of its teachers. They are always spoken of as being ‘world-renowned,’ being authorities, specialists and experts in the subjects they professed. It was the presence of scholars of such acknowledged excellence and widespread reputation that caused a steady movement of qualified students from all classes and ranks of society towards Takshasila from different and distant parts of the Indian continent, making it the intellectual capital of India of those days. Thus various centers of learning in the different parts of the country became affiliated, as it were, to the educational center or to the central University of Takshasila, which exercised a kind of intellectual suzerainty over the world of letters in India.
Takshshila was also not an organized university. It may be called an educational centre of different special subjects where special and higher studies were carried on .Students were admitted according to the decision of the teacher. The students were taught the subjects of their own choice. They completed their education according to their sweet will. There was no examination system prevalent. No degree or diploma was awarded to the students who completed their education. Only higher studies were conducted in Takshshila and so the students of more than sixteen years of age were admitted in the University. Perhaps the fees were also realized in the beginning. This fee was about 1,000 coins current at that time. Those students, who were not able to pay fees, had to pay it in the form of manual labour. Sometimes, the students were allowed to pay the fees even after finishing their education. Those students, who were unable to pay fees in any form, were educated out of charity. Some meritorious students without proper resources were awarded the government scholarships. In Takshshila poor and the rich all kinds of students were given opportunity to study.
Normally the students in Takshshila resided with their teachers in boarding houses, but some lived outside too. As Takshshila was the centre of higher education so its education system may be divided into two categories – Literary or General and Scientific or Industrial education. In Literary or Arts departments, all the religious literatures were included. Besides Atharva Veda other three Vedas, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Sam Veda were the foundation-stone of the education. Learning of Vedas, Vyakaran, Philosophy, Literature, Jyotish etc., the Brahmanical literature, the Buddhist literature were also taught in this centre. The Jatakas constantly refer to students coming to Takkasila to complete their education in the three Vedas and the eighteen Sippas or Arts. Sometimes the students are referred to as selecting the study of the Vedas alone or the Arts alone. The Boddisatta (Buddha) is frequently referred to as having learned the three Vedas by heart. Takshila was famous for military training, wrestling, archery and mountain- climbing.
In regard to Scientific or Industrial education, handicrafts and technical subjects like Greek architecture and arts were taught. The 18 arts were – Ayurveda, surgery, archery, warfare, Jyotish, prophesy, book-keeping, trade and commerce, agriculture, chariot-driving, mesmerism, snake-charming, hidden treasure investigation, music, dancing and painting. Practical experiments were also conducted in scientific and industrial education. The students had to prove their practical ability and efficiency. Some evidences are found to prove that some of the students, as university scholars (graduates) gave public demonstration of their skill going from one place to the other. : The Jatakas mention of subjects under scientific and technical education. Medicine included a first hand study of the plants to find out the medicinal ones. Takkasila was also famous for some of its special schools. One of such schools was the Medical Schools which must have been the best of its kind in India. It was also noted for its School of Law which attracted student from distant Ujjeni. Its Military School were not less famous, which offered training in Archery. Thus the teachers of Takkasila were as famous for their knowledge of the arts of peace as for that of war. Much attention was paid to the development of social and cultural activities in all possible ways. Dancing and dramatic groups, singers and musicians and other artists were given encouragement and offered employment. During the Sangam epoch in South India, the three principal arts, Music, Dance and Drama were practiced intensively and extensively throughout the country, and the epic of Silappadikaram contains many references to the practice of these arts.
Kashi
The modern name of the city in Varanasi. Formerly it was called Banaras. Kashi, Banaras and Varanasi are the names of the same city situated on the banks of Ganga. . The king of Kashi named Ajatasatru was renowned for his learning of Upanishads. This was the reason why many kings had sent their princes to Kashi for higher learning. Besides this, evidence shows that many Acharyas of Kashi were the scholars of Takshshila. Science, Arts and Crafts. Next, to Takkasila ranks Benares as a seat of learning. It was, however, largely the creation of the ex-students of Takkasila who set up as teachers at Benares, and carried thither the culture of that cosmopolitan educational center which was molding the intellectual life of the whole of India. There were again certain subjects in the teaching of which Benares seems to have specialized
In the 7thcentury B.C. Kashi became the most famous centre of learning in Northern India. The students began to flock here too, for higher studies of various branches of knowledge like Takshshila. Here too all the 18 crafts were taught. This was besides the Vedic studies. Together with learning, Kashi became the centre of Hindu religion also.. Gradually, in the reign of Asoka, Sarnath/Kashi became the famous seat of Buddhism. It went on prospering till the 7thcentury A.D.
Nalanda
In the state of Bihar in India at a distance of 7 miles in the north of Rajgarh and in south-east of Patna in India, at a distance of 43 miles, is situated Nalanda, where ruins are still displaying its ancient glory.
Nalanda represents an era, that saw India leading in imparting knowledge, to the world – the era when India was a coveted place for studies. The University flourished during the 5th and 12th century. Some historical studies suggest that the University of Nalanda was established during the reign of a king called Śakrāditya, of the Gupta Dynasty.[8]Both Xuanzang and Prajñavarman cite him as the founder, as does a seal discovered at the site.
Founded in the 5th Century A.D., Nalanda is known as the ancient seat of learning. 2,000 Teachers and 10,000 Students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied at Nalanda, the first Residential International University of the World.
Although Nalanda is one of the places distinguished as having been blessed by the presence of the Buddha, it later became particularly renowned as the site of the great monastic university of the same name , which was to become the crown jewel of the development of Buddhism in India. The name may derive from one of Shakyamuni’s former births , when hewas a king whose capital was here.Nalanda was one of his epithets meaning “insatiable in giving.”
This place saw the rise and fall of many empires and emperors who contributed in the development of Nalanda University. Many monasteries and temples were built by them. Kingarshwardhana gifted a 25m high copper statue of Buddha and Kumargupta endowed a college of fine arts ere. Nagarjuna- a Mahayana philosopher, Dinnaga- founder of the school of Logic and Dharmpala- the Brahmin scholar, taught here.
The famous Chinese traveller and scholar,Hieun-Tsang stayed here and has given a detailed description of the situations prevailing at that time. Careful excavation of the place has revealed many stupas, monasteries,hostels,stair cases,meditation halls, lecture halls and many other structures which speak of the splendour and grandeur this place enjoyed,when the place was a centre of serious study. Regarding the historicity of Nalanda, we read in Jaina texts that Mahavira Vardhamana spent as many as fourteen rainy seasons in Nalanda.
Pali Buddhist Literature , too, has ample references to Nalanda, which used to be visited by Lord Buddha. During the days of Mahavira and Buddha,Nalanda was apparently a very prosperous temple city, a great place of pilgrimage and the site of a celebrated university. It is said that King Asoka gave offerings to the Chaitya of Sariputra at Nalanda and erected a temple there.Taranath mentions this and also that Nagarjuna, the famous Mahayana philosopher of the second century A.D.,studied at Nalanda.Nagarjuna later became the high-priest there.
The Gupta kings patronised these monasteries, built in old Kushan architectural style, in a row of cells around a courtyard.Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most celebrated patrons who built temples and monasteries here. Recent excavations have unearthed elaborate structures here. Hiuen Tsang had left ecstatic accounts of both the ambiance and architectureof this unique university of ancient times.
Modern historians have tentatively dated the founding of a monastery at Nalanda as being in the fifth century.However, this may not be accurate. For example,the standard biographiesof the teacher Nagarjuna, believed by most historians to have been born around 150 AD, are quite specific about his having received ordination at Nalanda monastery when he was seven years old. Further, histeacherRahulabhadra is said to have lived there for some time before that. We may infer that there were a monastery or monasteries at Nalanda long before the foundation of the later Great Mahavihara.
At the time Hsuan Chwang stayed at Nalanda and studied with the abbot Shilabhadra, it was already a flourishing centre of learning. In many ways it seems to have been like a modern university.There was a rigorous oral entry examination conducted by erudite gatekeepers,and many students were turned away.To study or to have studied at Nalanda was a matter of great prestige. However, no degree was granted nor was a specific period of study required. The monks’ time, measured by a water clock, was divided between study and religious rites and practice.There were schools of study in which students received explanations by discourse, and there were also schools of debate, where the mediocre were often humbled, and the conspicuously talented distinguished. Accordingly, the elected abbot was generally the most learned man of the time.
The library of Nalanda, known as Dharma Gunj (Mountain of Truth) or Dharmagañja (Treasury of Truth), was the most renowned repository of Buddhist knowledge in the world at the time. Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for approximately more than 6 months when set aflame by Turkish invaders. The library had three main buildings as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and Ratnarañjaka(Delighter of Jewels).The libraries were vast and widely renowned, although there is a legend of a malicious fire in which many of the texts were destroyed and irrevocably lost.
During the Gupta age,the practice and study of the mahayana, especially the madhyamaka, flourished. However, from 750 AD, in the Pala age, there was an increase in the study and propagation of the tantric teachings.This is evidenced by the famous pandit Abhayakaragupta, a renowned tantric practitioner who was simultaneously abbot of the Mahabodhi, Nalanda and Vikramashila monasteries. Also Naropa, later so important to the tantric lineages of the Tibetan traditions, was abbot of Nalanda in the years 1049-57.
Evidence in literature suggests that in 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle the Tabaqat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism. The burning of the library continued for several months and “smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.”
The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet, he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivada lineage to complement the two existing ones.
When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197–1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students.[16][17] During Chag Lotsawa’s time there an incursion by Turkic soldiers caused the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, “remnants of the debilitated Buddhist community continued to struggle on under scarce resources until c. 1400 when Chagalaraja was reportedly the last king to have patronized Nalanda.”
D.C. Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centres of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.
Much of the tradition of Nalanda had been carried into Tibet by the time of the Muslim invasions of the twelfth century. While the monasteries of Odantapuri and Vikramashila were then destroyed, the buildings at Nalanda do not seem to have suffered extensive damage at that time, although most of the monks fled before the desecrating armies. In 1235 the Tibetan pilgrim Chag Lotsawa found a 90 year old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, with a class of seventy students. Rahula Shribhadra managed to survive through the support of a local brahmin and did not leave until he had completed educating his last Tibetan student.
In Nalanda the Vihara was established by Emperor Asoka. He had built a ―Sangharam‖ (residents of Buddhist nuns) but as a university it did not flourish before the 3rdcentury A.D. Nagarjuna came to study here about 300 or 330 A.D. from far south. But as the period of Nagarjuna and Ayurveda could not decided on reliable evidences, therefore the history of Nalanda as a centre of learning begins from 450 A.D.Fahian visited the place in 410 A.D. but Dr. Mukerji says that he had seen some other village named Nal, which in ‗Sudarsan Jatak‘ is named as Nalak or Nal village, and thus he could not visit the actual centre of Nalanda.
Nalanda was one of the world’s first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. It is also one of the most famous universities. In its heyday, it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. During the period of Harsha, the monastery is reported to have owned 200 villages given as grants.
The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century. He described how the regularly laid-out towers, forest of pavilions, harmikas and temples seemed to “soar above the mists in the sky” so that from their cells the monks “might witness the birth of the winds and clouds.” The pilgrim states: “An azure pool winds around the monasteries, adorned with the full-blown cups of the blue lotus; the dazzling red flowers of the lovely kanaka hang here and there, and outside groves of mango trees offer the inhabitants their dense and protective shade.
The Tibetan tradition holds that there were “four doxographies” (Tibetan: grub-mtha’) which were taught at Nālandā, and : Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise.
In the 7th century, Xuanzang records the number of teachers at Nālandā as being around 1510] Of these, approximately 1000 were able to explain 20 collections of sūtras and śāstras, 500 were able to explain 30 collections, and only 10 teachers were able to explain 50 collections. Xuanzang was among the few who were able to explain 50 collections or more. At this time, only the abbot Śīlabhadra had studied all the major collections of sūtras and śāstras at Nālandā.
Yijing wrote that matters of discussion and administration at Nālandā would require assembly and consensus on decisions by all those at the assembly, as well as resident monks
Valabhi
Valabhi, city of ancient India that was the capital of the Maitraka dynasty in the 5th–8th centuries ce. It was situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), northwest of the port of Bhavnagar, in Saurastra (later Gujarat), western India. The city is thought to have been established about 470 ce by the founder of the dynasty, Senapati Bhatarka, during the period when the Gupta empire was weakened. It continued as capital until about 780, when it suddenly and unaccountably disappeared from history. It apparently survived the Arab invasions of Saurastra about 725–735.
Valabhi was a celebrated centre of learning, with numerous Buddhist monasteries. It was visited by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang in the middle of the 7th century and by Yijing at the century’s close. The latter described it as equaling the fame of the Buddhist monastic centre Nalanda, in Bihar. According to a Jaina tradition, the second Jaina council was held in Valabhi in the 5th or 6th century ce; at this council the Jaina scriptures assumed their present form.
Valabhi situated on the eastern side of Kathiawar. This centre also flourished about the same period when Nalanda was in its glory. Valabhi was a parallel centre of the Hinayana School of Buddhism as Nalanda was the centre of Mahayana School. It was a capital of an important kingdom and side by side a part of an international importance. In the middle of 7th century, Sthirmati and Gunmati, the eminent scholars of Buddhism, were in this centre. This centre was famous not only as a centre of Buddhist culture and learning but also for the religious tolerance and mental freedom. The graduates of Valabhi were appointed in high government services.
Vallabhi University achieved as much fame as Nalanda. The Maitraka kings who ruled Western India constructed a monastery at Vallabhitheir capital.. The Maitraka kings spent lavishly to maintain their university. They gave every encouragement and assistance to Buddhist studies at this institution. In the 7th century Vallabhi was as prosperous and famous as Nalanda. Hieum Tsang visited Vallabhi, and reported in his “Ta-Tang-Si-Yu-Ki” as follows:
The population of Vallabhi is very large. The country is rich and prosperous. There are over a hundred millionaire families there. Imported luxury goods are seen in this city. There are about 100 monasteries with about 6,000 Buddhist monks. Most of them belong to the Sammitiya Sect. There are also many Hindu temples and a large Hindu population in this past of the country. The Buddha had visited this land during his ministry. There are stupas erected by King Asoka to mark the spots hallowed by the Buddha visit.”
Tsing records that foreign students were found at Vallabhi. They come from many lands far and near from these facts we know that like Nalanda-Vallabhi was internationally recognised. There was a large library. This was maintained by a fund established by the King. The course of studies included Comparative Religion. The Six systems of Hindu Philosophy and various other schools of Buddhism, Politics, Law, Agriculture, Economics also formed a part of the curriculum.
Tsing records that the graduates of Vallabhi, displayed their skill in the presence of the royalty, nobles, and other eminent people.
Thus it would be seen that as long as Buddhism was a power to reckon with in India, it rendered great service in the field of learning and culture. This is how it should be in a religion that teaches that ignorance is the worst enemy of Man and the cause of his sufferings while knowledge (Pragnya) is his highest asset. Pragnya wins all that is good in this world, and finally brings him the highest happiness, mundane as well as supra-mundane.
When the Portuguese conquered the Kotte Kingdom there were flourishing Buddhist Seminaries (Pirivenas) at Totagamauwa, Keragala, and Wattala. They were all raised to the ground “leaving not one stone upon another” Then followed an age of ignorance, decay and corruption for some 200 years. Finally during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha, Ven. Weliwita Saranankara started his Buddhist revival opening his Seminary at Niyamakanda, Udunnwara
Vickramasila
This place was situated in Magadha on the banks of the Gangas not very far away Nalanda. It is said to have included a hundred and seven temples and six colleges. It was founded by king Dhammapal at the close of the eight century and continued until it was destroyed about the same time as Nalanda.
A learned and pious sage was always appointed as head of the monastery. The subjects taught were similar to those taught at Nalanda, including grammar, metaphysics and logic and ritualistic books.
Pundits who where eminent in learning were rewarded by having their images painted on walls of the university, and the title of PANDIT was conferred on distinguished scholars by king himself. Six of the most learned of the sages of this foundation were appointed to guard the gates, gatekeepers to examine the fitness of applicants seeking admission to the university.
According to this Vickramasila was situated at Antichak Village, Kahalagon, Bagalpur District Vickramasila was said to be a sister institution of Nalanda and was said to have been founded by a monk called Kamapala, under the patronage of King Dharmapala. (AC 770-810). The King granted land-endowments for its upkeep later King Yasapala also patronised the institutions by liberal land endowments. Under the Pala Kings Vickramasila rose to 9 positions when it rivalled Nalanda and bade well to outshine it. In the centre of the university was the main lecture-hall. It was called Vidyagriha. There were six entrances to this building and near each entrance was a monastery for resident monks about 150 teachers were accommodated in each monastery. Like Nalanda Vickramasila was also surrounded by a high-wall. There were six Dvara Panditas i.e Professors who examined candidates seeking admission. Here too high standards were maintained. 108 Professors were engaged in teaching and administrative duties. The curriculum of studies was similar to that of Nalanda. Here preference was given to the Tantric form of Buddhism.
Dipankara Sri Gnana who is also known as Atisha (AC 960-1055) was the more-famous of the scholars of Vickramasila. His fame spread far and wide as the propagator of Buddhism in Tibet Tibetans hold his name in the highest veneration. Vickramasila was managed by a staff of Professors. They constituted the Board of Education, Board of Administration, Board of Discipline and the Board in charge of entrance examinations. Inaugurated in about 800 A.C. it graced the land until it was demolished by the Muslim invaders.
Kanchi
Kanchipuram was known in early Tamil literature as Kachi or Kachipedu but was later Sanskritized to Kanchi or Kanchipuram. According to legend, the name Kanchi is derived from Ka referring to the Hindu god Brahma and anchi, referring to his worship of Hindu god Vishnu at this place. The earliest inscription from the Maurya period (325–185 BCE) denote the city as Kanchipuram, where King Visnugopa was defeated by Samudragupta Maurya (320–298 BCE). Patanjali (150 BCE or 2nd century BCE) refers to the city in his Mahabhasya as Kanchipuraka. The city was referred to by various Tamil names like Kanchi, Kanchipedu and Sanskrit names like Kanchipuram. The Pallava inscriptions from (250–355) and the inscriptions of the Chalukya dynasty refers the city as Kanchipura. Jaina Kanchi refers to the area around Tiruparutti Kundram.
Kanchipuram is traditionally a centre of religious education for the Hindu, Jainism and Buddhism faiths. The Buddhist monasteries acted as nucleus of the Buddhist educational system. With the gradual resurrection of Hinduism during the reign of Mahendra Varman I, the Hindu educational system gained prominence with Sanskrit emerging as the official language.[
Buddhism is believed to have flourished in Kanchipuram between the 1st and 5th centuries.[98] Some notable Buddhists associated with Kanchipuram are Āryadeva(2nd–3rd centuries) – a successor of Nāgārjuna of Nalanda University, Dignaga and the Pali commentators Buddhaghosa and Dhammapala. According to a popular tradition, Bodhidharma, a 5th/6th-century Buddhist monk and founder of Shaolin Kung Fu was the third son of a Pallava king from Kanchipuram. However, other traditions ascribe his origins to other places in Asia.]Buddhists institutions from Kanchipuram were instrumental in spreading Theravada Buddhism to the Mon people of Myanmar and Thailand who in return spread the religion to the incoming Burmese and Thai people.
It is thought that Jainism was introduced into Kanchipuram by Kunda Kundacharya (1st century).[99] Jainism spread to the city by Akalanka (3rd century). Kalbhras, the rulers of Kanchipuram before the Pallavas, followed Jainism which gained popularity from royal patronage.[99] The Pallava kings, Simhavishnu, Mahendra Varman and Simhavarman (550–560) followed Jainism,. The two sects of Hinduism, Saivism andVaishnavism were revived under the influence of Adi Sankara and Ramanuja respectively.
(2ndcentury B.C. to 13thcentury).Kanchi University was famous in south India, and its main activity was to spread Buddhist and Jainism in the southern parts of India. The commercial community was of a great help for spreading Buddhism and Jainism. Among the subjects taught in the university engineering, sculpture and architecture were prominent subjects. The proof of this could be found in the huge splendid temple carved in big stones.
Odantapuri
Odantapuri was considered the second oldest of India�s universities. This was situated in Maghada, about 6 miles away from Nalanda. Odantapuri University was established by Dharmapala of Pala dynasty during late 8th century in Magadha (which is in modern day Bihar) and flourished for 400 years till 12th century. Acharya Sri Ganga of Vickramasila had been a student here. Later he joined Odantapuri King Gopala (660-705) was the patron who helped to found this university. According t. The famous Acharya Sri Ganga who was a professor at the Vikramashila University was a graduate of this Odantapuri University o the ancient Tibetan records there were about 12,000 students studying at this University..
Our knowledge of this seat of learning is obscure, and we are not in a position to give more details. This too perished at the hands of the Muslim invaders. It is said they mistook the universities with their high walls for fortresses. They thought the Buddhist monks were “Shaven headed Brahmins” who were idolaters.
Somapura
Somapura was situated in East Pakistan. King Devapala (AC 810-850) is said to have erected the Dharmapala-Vihara at Somapura. The ruins of these buildings cover an area of about 1 square mile. There was a large gate and the buildings were surrounded by a high-wall. There were about 177 cells for monks in additions to the shrines and image houses. A common refectory and a kitchen are among the ruins, Remains of three -strayed buildings are to be seen. This university flourished for about 750 years before it was abandoned after the Muslim invasion.
Somapura Mahavihara was established by Dharmapala of Pala dynasty during late 8th century in Bengal and flourished for 400 years till 12th century. The University spread over 27 acres of land of which the main complex was 21 acres was one of the largest of its kind. It was a major center of learning for Bauddha Dharma (Buddhism), Jina Dharma (Jainism) and Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Even today one can find ornamental terracotta on its outer walls depicting the influence of these three traditions
it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions,” and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them.
The excavation at Paharpur, and the finding of seals bearing the inscription Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya, has identified the Somapura Mahavihara as built by the second Pala king Dharmapala (circa 781-821) of Pāla Dynasty. Some clay seals from the ruins bear the inscription Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya. Tibetan sources, including Tibetan translations of Dharmakayavidhi and Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa, Taranatha’s history and Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang, mention that Dharmapala’s successor Devapala (circa 810—850) built it after his conquest of Varendra. The Paharpur pillar inscription bears the mention of 5th regnal year of Devapala’s successor Mahendrapala (circa 850—854) along with the name of Bhiksu Ajayagarbha. Taranatha’s Pag Sam Jon Zang records that the monastery was repaired and renovated during the reign of Mahipala (circa 995—1043 AD).
The Nalanda inscription of Vipulashrimitra records that the monastery was destroyed by fire, which also killed Vipulashrimitra’s ancestor Karunashrimitra, during a conquest by the Vanga army in the 11th century, assumed to be an army of the Varman rulers. About a century later Vipulashrimitra renovated the vihara and added a temple of Tara. The restoration work was alluded to as jagatang netraika vishrama bhuh (a singular feast to the eyes of the world).
Atisha Dipankar Srijnan stayed here for many years and translated the Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa into Tibetan. Over time Atish’s spiritual preceptor, Ratnakara Shanti served as a sthavira of the vihara, Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra served as a resident monk, and several other scholars spent some part of their lives at this monastery including Kalamahapada, Viryendra and Karunashrimitra. Many Tibetan monks visited the Somapura between 9th and 12th centuries
During the rule of the Sena dynasty, known as Karnatadeshatagata Brahmaksatriya, in the second half of the 12th century the vihara started to decline for the last time. It was finally abandoned during the 13th century, when the area came under Muslim occupation.[3] One scholar writes, “The ruins of the temple and monasteries at Pāhāpur do not bear any evident marks of large-scale destruction. The downfall of the establishment, by desertion or destruction, must have been sometime in the midst of the widespread unrest and displacement of population consequent on the Muslim invasion.”
Jagaddala
Jagaddala Mahavihara (fl. late 11th c.- mid 12th c.) was a Buddhist Monastery and seat of learning in Varendra, a geographical unit in present north Bengal.
King Ramapala (1077-1129) is said to be the founder of this University. Jagaddala University was the largest construction works undertaken by the Pala Kings. This was a centre for the study and dissemination of Tantric Buddhism. It followed the methods, practices, and traditions of Nalanda. According to Tibetan works many books were translated to the Tibetan language at Jagaddala. The Buddhist teacher Sakya Sri Bhadra, seeing that Nalanda, Vickramsila, and Odantapuri were in ruins after the Muslim invasion, entered Jagaddala for his studies. It is said that his pupil Danaseela translated ten books to Tibetan Sakya Sri Bhadra was responsible for the propagation of Tatntric Buddhism in Tibet. He lived for seven years at Jagaddala. According to Tibetan sources, Jagaddala specialized in Vajrayana Buddhism. A large number of texts that would later appear in the Kanjur and Tengjur were known to have been composed or copied at Jagadala. It is likely that the earliest dated anthology of Sanskrit verse, the Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa, was compiled by Vidyākara at Jaggadala toward the end of the eleventh century or the beginning of the twelfth. Decline and end Śakyaśrībhadra, a Kashmiri scholar who was the last abbot of Nalanda Mahavihara and instrumental in transmitting Buddhism to Tibet, is said to have fled to Tibet in 1204 from Jagaddala when Muslim incursions seemed imminent. Historian Sukumar Dutt tentatively placed the final destruction of Jagadala to 1207.
It is a matter of great pride that Buddhist Education crossed Indian Sub-continent and expanded upto China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Srilanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodian, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, with the rise and development of Buddhism in those countries.