Nalanda, Bihar · 25.1358°, 85.4426°
The greatest university of the ancient world — at its height home to up to 10,000 monks and masters of logic, medicine, mathematics and tantra, drawing Xuanzang and Yijing across deserts and seas. Its Pala-era professors carried Buddhism to Tibet. Destroyed around 1200 in Bakhtiyar Khalji's raids; its excavated brick core is UNESCO-listed, with a revived Nalanda University nearby.
Xuanzang recorded that Nalanda's library, the nine-storeyed Dharmaganja, burned for months — its three great halls named Ocean of Gems, Sea of Gems, and Jewel-adorned.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Gupta