Intellectual Traditions of Nalanda Mahavihara in Ancient India
Sarfaraz Ahmad Rather
Research Scholar, Department of History, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Ishfaq Ahmad Mir
Research Scholar, Department of History, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Syed Aasif Bashir
Research Scholar, Department of History, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Built during the Gupta era (5th–6th century CE), Nālandā Mahāvihāra became a major hub for Buddhist monk instruction and scholarship. The activities of resident monks, their instructional strategies, and Nālandā's influence on Buddhist scholarship are investigated in this paper. Unlike previous monastic schools, Nālandā embraced a disciplined academic approach combining Buddhist teachings with secular topics. Acting as a centre for intellectual conversation, it promoted critical research and disseminated Buddhist ideas over India and beyond. The work looks at its development from a vihāra to a mahāvihāra, its faculty-to---student ratio, and its methodological improvements. Its growth was greatly aided by institutional changes, geographical advantages, and royal patronage as well as by Although outside invasions helped to explain its fall-off, internal changes in Buddhist scholastic traditions also had a role. Still, Nālandā's legacy as a hub of intellectual development and higher education shapes Buddhist ideas and academic traditions all around.
Keywords: Nālandā Mahāvihāra, Buddhist education, monastic learning, medieval universities, intellectual history.
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