Nalanda
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Archaeological Site Of Nalanda Mahavihara (2016) · Nalanda, Bihar
The ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara, one of the oldest and greatest universities of the ancient world, in Bihar about ninety kilometres from Bodh Gaya. From the fifth century, under the Gupta kings, it grew into a vast monastic university where thousands of monks and scholars studied Buddhist philosophy, logic, grammar, medicine and astronomy, drawing students from across Asia; the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang studied and taught here in the seventh century and left a detailed account. It flourished for some seven hundred years until it was sacked around 1200. What remains is an excavated campus of red brick: rows of monasteries with cells, courtyards and lecture platforms, and great temple mounds, the largest being the stepped Sariputta stupa. It is a World Heritage Site. A small museum holds sculptures and seals, and a memorial hall honours Xuanzang. A new Nalanda University has been built nearby. Rajgir, twelve kilometres away, has Vulture Peak, where the Buddha taught, a ropeway to a peace pagoda, and hot springs. Most visitors come on a day trip from Bodh Gaya.
Nalanda Archaeological Site, Bargaon, Nalanda, Bihar, 803111, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical ASI pattern: the excavated site opens around sunrise and closes around sunset every day, with ticket sales stopping a little before closing. The Archaeological Museum keeps shorter daytime hours and is commonly closed one day a week, often Friday. The Xuanzang Memorial Hall keeps its own hours. Traps: arriving mid-afternoon and finding the museum shut or the light gone; winter fog delaying trains so you reach the site just before closing; and assuming Rajgir's ropeway runs late (it stops in the late afternoon). Confirm all times before travelling.