| Temples & Legends Of Bihar |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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NALANDA |
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| Fa Hien, who
-visited India in the early Fifth Century, however, does not mention the monastic
establishments, although he mentions that the village Nalo was the place of birth and
death of Sariputra and had a stupa. Nalo may be Nalanda. Hiuen Tsang had visited Nalanda
and had seen an 80' high copper image of the Buddha raised by Purna-varman. Hiuen Tsang
also mentions that king Harsha- vardhana of Kanauj (606-647) at Nalanda was building a
large monastery of brass. It is said that one thousand monks from Nalanda were present at
the royal congregation at Kanauj. Nalanda was a flourishing university teaching hundreds
of students when Hiuen Tsang visited the place.
Hiuen Tsang's account mentions a number of monasteries and
temples at Nalanda. He studied philosophy, logic, grammar, medicine and Atharvaveda at
Nalanda University. He had very high praise for the priests and students and was struck by
the great fervor with which discussions used to be held from morning till night. Hiuen
Tsang was given the name of Mokshadeva at Nalanda. |
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