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BIHAR NALANDA Believed to be the oldest university in the world, founded in the 5th century BC, a renowned centre of
Buddhist and Jain learning - NALANDA Hieun Tsang, the Chinese traveler, spent several years here in the 7th century AD and has
left detailed description of the excellence of education and purity
of monastic life practiced here. Though the Buddha visited Nalanda several times during his
lifetime, this famous center of Buddhist learning shot to fame much
later, during 5th-12th centuries. In this first residential
international university of the world, 2,000 teachers and 10,000
students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied here. Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most
celebrated patrons who built temples and monasteries here. An
international Center for Buddhist Studies was established here in
1951. There
is Bihar Sharif, where an annual Urs is celebrated at the
dargah or tomb of Malik Ibrahim Baya. Baragaon, 2 km away has a sun
temple, famous for Chhath puja.
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