Vikramashila
The Vikramashila University (Vikramaśilā Mahāvihāra) was an important Buddhist monastery university in India of the Pala Dynasty (750 to 1161).
history
The founding of Vikramashila goes back to the Bengali ruler Dharmapala (783-820) and took place in response to an alleged decline in teaching at the then leading Buddhist monastery university Nalanda . As a center for the training and sending out of missionaries, Vikramashila had a lasting effect on the spread of tantric teachings to Tibet as well as to East and Southeast Asia. The Indian pundit Atisha Dipamkara Srijnana (980-1053) was one of the abbots and teachers of Vikramashila .
Like other Buddhist centers, the fortified monastery university fell victim to the Muslim invaders advancing against the Sena dynasty around 1200 .
Excavations
The excavations began in 1960 and ended initially in 1969. These first excavations were carried out by Patna University . The excavations continued in 1971 and ended in 1982. These second digs were carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The largest single structure found is a square building measuring 330 × 330 meters and having 208 rooms. The excavation work on the ruins of the ancient university in the vicinity of Antichak in the Bhagalpur district , Bihar , is ongoing.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gabriele Seitz: The visual language of Buddhism. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2006, pp. 168, 202.
- ^ Www.dailypioneer.com The Pioneer: Revisiting Vikramshila. Sunday 30 June 2013 (Engl.). Accessed January 18, 2014.
Web links
- Vikramashila in the journal on Tibetan Buddhism "Mandala"
- Vikramashila page of the varnam.org weblog
- Vikramashila at banglapedia
Coordinates: 25 ° 21 ′ 0 ″ N , 87 ° 19 ′ 48 ″ E