Ruins of Nalanda (Nalanda Khandhar) KNOW ABOUT NALANDA RUINS

Founded in the 5th century AD, Nalanda, in Bihar, is one of the world’s oldest living cities. It is widely recognised as one of the ancient world’s great universities and an important Buddhist centre of academic excellence. When Chinese scholar and traveller Xuan Zang visited sometime between 685 and 762 AD, about 10,000 monks and students lived here, studying theology, astronomy, metaphysics, medicine and philosophy.

Nalanda flourished as an international university under the patronage of Emperors Ashoka and Harshavardhana, who built temples and monasteries here. It was the first residential university of the world, and attracted scholars from all over the Buddhist world. The monasteries here are built on the Kushan style of architecture. There is a large courtyard that is surrounded by cells where the monks lived.
Nalanda was destroyed by Muslim invaders in the 12th century. The three libraries here were burnt down. It is said that they had such a large collection of books and manuscripts that the fire burnt for six months.

A Unesco World Heritage site, the well preserved ruins of this ancient seat of learning make it an important destination on the Buddhist tourism circuit.

Spend some time walking through the ruins of this ancient seat of learning.