NALANDA : IN BRIEF (THE FIRST UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD) I

The University of Nalanda was founded in the 5th century by the Gupta emperors. There were thousands of students and teachers. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning. The courses offered at Nalanda included the study of scriptures of Mahayana and Hinayana Schools of Buddhism, Brahminical vedic texts, Philosophy, logic theology, grammer, astronomy, mathematics and medicine. Its importance as a monastic university continued until the end of the 12th century.
The International Scholastic Centre at Nalanda   described by later Scholars as an International University was founded much earlier than the 5th century A.D. Nalanda eventually developed into the greatest ancient center of Buddhist learning. Students from China and Korea, Sri Lanka and Indonesia and from all the regions of India came to Nalanda to study.
Nalanda is known as the ancient seat of learning, Students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied at Nalanda, the first Residential International University of the World.
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."

Nalanda, where ruins of the great ancient university have been excavated, is situated at a distance of 90 km. in the south east of Patna by road, the Capital City of Bihar State in India, is a village called the 'Bada Gaon', in the vicinity of which, are the world famous ruins of Nalanda University.
The ruins extend over a large area represent only a part of the extensive establishment. There are many versions of what the term Nalanda means. One is that Nalam means Lotus and Da means to give. Both combined together, Nalanda means Giver of Lotus. Since Lotus is supposed to represent knowledge, Nalanda means Giver of Knowledge.
Nalanda was the largest residential centre of learning that the world had ever known. The library was located in a nine storied building. Since the time of Buddha, the bhikkus were always encouraged to study the various arts and sciences. Learning was greatly encouraged as served dual proposes: knowledge and practice. The monks, therefore took to learning so that they might practice it and realise Dhamma perfectly and thereby enrich the masses.

Hariharnath Temple in Sonepur, Bihar

Hariharnath temple in Bihar

The Hariharnath temple in Bihar is a place of pilgrimage for the devotees who come here especially on the occasion of the great Sonepur mela on Kartik Purnima day. This day of full moon is believed to be very auspicious and any prayer offered on this day to the Lord is always fulfilled.


The day of the Kartik Purnima is really a celebration to the

people in the Hariharnath temple at Bihar. There are fairs all around. The devotees gather here to worship the deity. They always keep fast and break it only after they had finished their pujas or worship of the Lord.

The day of the great worship is accompanied with meals that are given to each and every one of the people whoever come to this place. It is very interesting to find that these meals run for as long as a month or even more. This is one of the major attractions of the devotees. The festival at Hariharnath temple of Bihar is attended by millions of people.

The maximum number of people gather over here in the Hariharnath temple on the day of the Kartik Purnima chiefly in order to take the bath in the river. In these days the village of Sonepur takes an absolutely different look. This look however lasts for more than a month.

Sonepur is a prime junction on the North-Eastern Railway. It is also important to note that this place is the district headquarters of the Traffic as well as the Locomotive departments of the state of Bihar.

The origin of the Shiva temple at Sonepur known as Hariharnath is shrouded in mystery. A large section of orthodox Hindus believe that the temple was built by Rama on his way to Janakpur to win Sita. There is, however, no reference to this in the Ramayana. But that Rama passed this way is established. It is a fact that the whole of Tirhut division is imbued with the Rama-Sita cult and there are a large number of temples throughout the Tirhut division, consisting of Champaran, Saran, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga (Mithila) districts, which commemorate the deeds of Rama, Sita, Valmiki, etc. It may be correct to assume that this Hariharnath temple might have originated in this manner. The present temple, however, is not old. There is not much of architecture. As Spooner has observed: ``We see a single square chamber, constituting of the cella, with a simple, ordinary


rising to a point, and with a narrow porch in front. These are the constituents of our simplest form of temple, and in the present example we find them in as simple forms as now are traceable among the existing and recorded monuments.’’
There is a stray reference to the temple of Hariharnath during the Subedarship of Raja Man Singh who is said to have done some repair work. The present temple was built by Raja Ram Narain, a noted figure of Bihar during the later Mughal period. The temple has been recently reconstructed by the Birlas. The temple of Hariharnath Mahadeo is the principle place of worship here but several smaller temples also receive the offerings of pilgrims. Among these are the Kali Asthan and the Panch Devata Mandir; the latter was built by a priestess who claimed to have built the temple with the offerings she received.

PLACES :DARAULI (DON)

About Darauli :-

Darauli is one of the 19 blocks in Siwan District. The total population of the block is 143,757 . There are 97 villages and 0 towns in this block. The literacy rate is 50.13% . The female literacy rate is 36.08% . The male literacy rate is 65.14% .

• The number of households in Darauli is 20,145. All the households are rural households and there is no urban households. .
• Female to male ratio of Darauli is 104.28%. Female to male ratio of the block is less than state's female to male ratio 91.93%. It is unsatisfactory and the people should drive some campaign to improve this.
• The literacy rate of the block is 50.13% compared to the literacy rate of state 47%. The literacy rate of the block is better than state literacy rate. Anyhow, the rate of literacy is low and needs immediate attention of Union and State Government.
• The female literacy rate is 36.08% compared to male literacy rate of 65.14% .
• The total working population is 35.99% of the total population. 52.6% of the men are working population . 20.43% of the women are working population.
• The main working population is 23.13% of the total population. 39.34% of the men are main working population . 7.94% of the women are main working population. While the marginal working population is 12.86% of the total population. 13.26% of the men are marginal working population. 12.49% of the women are marginal working population.
• The total non working population is 64.01% of the total population. 47.4% of the men are non working population. 79.57% of the women are non working population.                                                                 

History of Daruli (Don) :-

The village of Don is located in Darauli block in Siwan district in Bihar. The village is associated with Buddhism in a very important way. The Buddha died in Kusinara, without leaving behind an instruction as to what was to be done with His mortal remains. Post His death, the Mallas of Kusinara gathered and took upon themselves the task of His funeral. Respect was paid for 6 days and after that the body was cremated. After the funeral, a dispute broke out between the Mallas and chiefs of other clans over sharing of the relics. Resolution came with the intervention of a brahmin by the name of Dona. He distributed the relics equally and more importantly to the satisfaction of the eight claimants.

All the claimants, out of sheer happiness and gratitude, gave Dona the vessel in which the ashes of the Buddha was collected. Dona, on his part, declared that he would construct a stupa to enshrine the sacred vessel. This stupa, later, went on become an important pilgrims’ destination.

Reference of the remains of this stupa is found in the travel details of Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang. Today, the stupa is no more than a grassy mound with a Hindu temple on it just outside the village of Don. Quiet closeby is a beautiful statue of Tara who is now worshipped as a Hindu goddess. The statue, it is believed, dates back to 9th century. 

Another story of Don Mythology:-

A village in the Darauli block where there are remnants of a fort, which is said to be connected with the famous hero of the Mahabharat, Acharya Dronacharya the guru of both Kaurav’s and Pandav’s.

Dona's stupa is a lesser-known but popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, despite its isolated location. The Buddhist traveler Hiuen Tsang mentions a visit to Don in his account of his travels in India. He describes the stupa as being in ruins. The account of Dona's distribution of Buddha's ashes and being given the vessel is a mentioned in the end of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, which is described in Maurice Walsh's The Long Discourses. Presently Dona's stupa is a grassy hill and has a Hindu temple built over it, where a beautiful statue of Tara is worshipped as a Hindu goddess. This statue was carved in the 9th century. A.D. Tourists on a Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour are sure to appreciate the historic sight of the stupa at Don. 

How to Reach:-

Don can be reached from Patna to Siwan via Chhapra. A day trip from Kusinagar via Gopalganj can also be arranged.

After the Buddha's cremation a dispute arose as to how his ashes should be divided. Eventually a brahmin named Dona was given the task and he did it to the satisfaction of all the eight claimants. As a reward for his services he was given the vessel in which the ashes had been collected and from which he had divided and he announced that he would enshrine this vessel in a stupa. This stupa later became a popular destination with pilgrims. When Hiuen Tsiang went there it was already in ruins but it still sometimes emitted a brilliant light. Today Dona's stupa is a large grassy mound with a Hindu temple on it just outside the village of Don. Nearby is an exceptionally beautiful statue of Tara now being worshipped as a Hindu goddess. This statue dates from the 9th century. To get to Don go from Patna to Siwan via Chhapra . Alternatively you can visit Don as a day trip from Kusinara via Gopalganj. Beyond Siwan the road is very bad. The story about Dona's division of the Buddha's ashes is in the last part of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta which can be found in Walshe's The Long Discourses. When you have finished in Patna cross the Ganges by the new Mahatma Gandhi Bridge and head north to Vesali via Hajipur.