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Nalanda Tour & Travel Guide

If you’re visiting Bihar, Nalanda is a must visit spot. This quaint town covered with monasteries and Buddhist influences is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An amalgamation of architectural wonders, spiritual awakening, cultural insights, and history lessons, a trip to Nalanda will recharge and rejuvenate you. Nalanda has been an important center of learning since many centuries including Taxila and Vikramashila which are its two most prominent learning centers along with the Nalanda University which is now in ruins being featured as a ‘must visit’. The complex tells a story of the grandeur of the bygone era. Nalanda is a great offbeat destination. There aren’t many tourist attractions, but it is the vibe of the city that makes it so special. You can relax and unwind, find out more about history and Buddhist culture and just take a break from your mundane routine life.

Nalanda Map
Population

5,000

Top Sites

Nalanda University, Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda Museum

Temprature
Summer
April to June

26°C to 34°C

Monsoon
July to Sep

24°C to 30°C

Winter
Oct to Feb

18°C to 24°C

An Insight into Nalanda Tourism

The Ancient Seat of Education & Knowledge

Nalanda - a Maha-Vhara, was in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, now Bihar in India. About 95 km from Patna this monastery of the bygone era was a center of learning from the 5th century CE to 1200 CE. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Nalanda is a must see in Bihar. This was a seat of knowledge that incorporated formal methods of Vedic learning and founded the corner-stone of modern education system, along with other prominent learning centers like Taxila and Vikramashila, India's early universities. Abode of academic excellence and a decent pilgrim center, Nalanda was sheathed in a strands of spirituality and still continues to be an equally enriching place for tourists & scholars. Touring Nalanda is all about history, spirituality, architecture, and culture. The city is a home to world's oldest and finest residential universities, although a ruin now, but the complex still portrays the bygone picture and is thronged by tourists all though the year.

Nalanda was once an affluent & promising village in the past. Jain thirthankara, Mahavira, had spent 14 rainy seasons at Nalanda and Gautama Buddha too delivered lectures in a nearby mango grove.

Nalanda flourished under the Gupta Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries and later under the emperor of Kannauj. Documented history of this place started under the Gupta Empire and later the institute extended exponentially. This place is a cultural legacy to be prized and cherished. But Nalanda was plundered, destroyed by Muslim Mamluk Turkish kings and suffered a major ruin under the rule of Pala. Much later, in 1915 the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) surveyed, investigated the ruins and studied the site, which further led to excavation of six temples and eleven monasteries.

There are not too many places of sightseeing here but the excavations are great source of knowledge and insight into our very old seat of learning & knowledge. Your “must see” list in Nalanda should include the Great Stupa, Nalanda Archaeological Museum, and the Nalanda Multimedia Museum. The “viharas” or monasteries, the “chaiyas” or temples, and the museums are must see. Once can see collection of bronzes, coins, terracotta jars, a sample of burnt rice etc. of original Buddhist stupas. History & heritage of Nalanda allures global tourists.

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