The well-known American writer, publisher, lecturer, and businessman Mark Twain reportedly remarked, “the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition.”
For millennia, thousands of Rishis have chanted hymns and mantras, building up the strong positive energies in the atmosphere. These were handed down from one generation to the next orally. The Rishi, who was also the Guru, continued this practise by teaching his sons, or shishyas, what he had learned. The Vedas are referred to as Shruti. Up until they were collected, the same was heard, remembered, and sung in a continuous cycle. They were Shruti for tens of thousands of years prior to their assembly. This is why listening to Sanskrit chanting from the Vedas and other scriptures energises your aura and provides positive energy to the area. Each Rishi who transmitted knowledge in antiquity stood for a recognised Vedic school.
In the later Vedic period and during the Mahabharata era, students lived in groups at the Guru’s ashrams until their education was complete. Larger Gurukulas served as colleges or other educational facilities. After that, along with Gurukulas and universities, mutts and temples also evolved into learning institutions.
When providing education, it was important to take into account a number of important factors, including the preservation of traditional culture, the study of the scriptures, character development, personality development, religious obligations, instilling the spirit of individual tasks towards family and community, discipline, and self-reliance. Thousands of temples and educational facilities were destroyed by Islamic conquerors, but the idea of temple education only little diminished. The educational fire was stoked. The local Hindu population backed the temples that had previously been maintained by Islamically ruled authority. According to Shri Dharampal’s book The Beautiful Tree, temples functioned as the focal point for important social, economic, artistic, and intellectual functions.
The famous universities of ancient India featured below were far ahead of their time, so get ready to be amazed.
1. Takshashila University
The Ramayana describes Takshashila as a magnificent city famed for its wealth which was founded by Bharata, the younger brother of Rama. Bharata, who also founded nearby Pushkalavati, installed his two sons, Taksha and Pushkala, as the rulers of the two cities.
As students from all over the world came to Takshashila to study, it transformed into a melting pot of cultural influences. Numerous influential Indian academics produced their ground-breaking works at Takshashila. It is believed that Chanakya wrote Arthashastra, an ancient Indian text on economic policy and military strategy, while serving as a professor at Takshashila University. There, Maharishi Charak also penned the Charak Samhita, a book on medicine. Takshashila was also home to the renowned Sanskrit grammarian and scholar Panini. His best work, Ashtadhyayi (eight chapters), was written there. It was a lengthy, rule-based grammar book written in Sanskrit that has been preserved in its entirety to this day.
2. Nalanda University
One of the most well-known historic institutions in India is Nalanda. Nalanda was a Buddhist learning centre in the Indian state of Bihar, some 55 miles southeast of Patna. “One of the first great universities in recorded history,” is another name for it.
In what is now Bihar, Shakraditya of the Gupta dynasty founded Nalanda University in the early fifth century. The university thrived there for 600 years, up to the 12th century. With thousands of manuscripts on subjects as varied as grammar, logic, literature, astrology, astronomy, and medicine, this university’s library was the biggest in the ancient world. The library complex, known by the names Dharmaganja, Ratnasagar, Ratnadadhi, and Ratnaranjaka, was made up of three large buildings. The Samajguhya and the Prajnaparamita Sutra were two of the most priceless manuscripts preserved at Ratnadadhi, a building with nine levels.
Around 1200 CE, a Mamluk army under the command of Bakhtiyar Khilji is alleged to have pillaged and destroyed Nalanda. While some historians contend that the Mahavihara continued to operate in a temporary capacity for a while longer, others assert that it was eventually forgotten and abandoned before being evaluated by the Archaeological Survey of India and the beginnings of excavations in the 19th century. Nalanda is a well-known tourist destination for Buddhists.
3. Puspagiri University
Up until the 11th century, Puspagiri University was a significant hub of learning in India. Currently, its ruins can be seen on the Langudi hills in the Orissan districts of Jaipur and Cuttack. These low hills are located about 90 kilometres from the Mahanadi delta.
Recent discoveries of several images of Emperor Ashoka have raised the possibility that Pushpagiri University was established by Ashoka himself. The Buddhist artefacts found here include a sizable quantity of gold and silver products, a stone container, an earthen pot, remains of the Kushana period, and Brahmi lettering. A unique treasure is a huge Buddha statue with pursed lips, protruding ears, and a broad forehead.
However, due to a lack of patronage during the Muslim rule in India, this old university vanished.
4. Vikramshila University
In the Indian state of Magadha (now Bihar), there was another illustrious academic institution. The two most influential figures in knowledge and education during that time were Vikramshila and Nalanda. Vikramshila University was founded by King Dharampala in the ninth century to compete with Nalanda University, though the two institutions also worked together. The graduates of this university are credited with practically developing Tibet’s culture and civilization. Vikramshila, in contrast to other historical study institutions, only accepted applicants who desired to become Buddhist monks. After finishing their studies, these monks set off to spread Buddhism in distant lands. The Vikramshila complex reportedly housed six different colleges, each of which provided a specific area of expertise.
Vikramshila met the same demise as Nalanda in 1203 AD. The futures of the two colleges were connected in several ways. In addition to being outstanding universities, both of them were destroyed by the same Turkic conqueror, Bakhtiyar Khilji, who also took and burned them to the ground. Both had outstanding libraries at the period, had strong royal patronage, and were destroyed by the same Turkic conqueror, Bakhtiyar Khilji.
5. Odantapuri University
On top of Hiranya Prabat in Bihar sarif are the ruins of the Odantapuri University, also known as Odantpura Vihar or the Buddhist Mahavira of Odantapuri. It was established in the eighth century by Emperor Gopala of the Pala Dynasty and thrived for 400 years till the 12th century. It was effectively the sixth university in ancient India, and it was established primarily to spread Buddhist knowledge and beliefs. In addition, it is regarded as the second-oldest university in the world, behind Nalanda, which was established in antiquity.
It served as a key center for Buddhist scholarship for almost four centuries. Due to its lengthy walls, the infamous Muslim Turkish invader Bhakhtiyar Khilji mistook this institution for a fortress and gave the order for his troops to destroy it in 1193 AD. At this time, his men also burned down Nalanda University. His actions turned out to be the deciding factor in the demise of both the venerable university and the old Indian institution.
In addition to these 5 universities, there were a number of more historic Indian universities that were destroyed by invasion centuries ago.
India served as a centre of learning and was home to numerous notable historic universities, all of which were destroyed by Islamic invaders and later restricted by the British. Indians were cut off from the enormous knowledge of antiquity in this way. One can’t help but wonder if India would be able to regain its lost knowledge and education and enjoy the beauty of being the center of knowledge.