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HISTORY OF KERALA EDUCATION

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History of Universities

India’s Ancient Universities:

It is essential to have a brief knowledge about the the glorious past of Indian educational tradition.We,the Indians are proud to inherite a very immemorable and golden past of our education which was enriched by a number of sages ,saints,Buddhists Monks and scholars and also by the foreign educationists throught several decades.Aryabhatta,Chanakya,Dipankar Srigyan Aatish,Shilbhadra jaji ,Fa Huen,Uen chuang ,Charaka,Shusruta and many Chinese and Tibetan scholars enriched our educational heredity.Its to be remembered with great honor that Lord Goutam Buddha;s preaching had enlightened our both educational and cultural heritage. 

Students and Scholars used to visit those Universities with deep devotion and earnestness from the countries like,China, Korea, Shyam. Kamboj. Ancorbat (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malayesia. 
Shrilanka,Burma and even from Afghanistan.Great King Asoka and Guta Dynasties has great contributions for the developments of Indian traditional education system like Tapovana system. 

*Takkhasila(Taxila), Nalanda and Bikramsila 

Takshashila was an early center of learning dating back to at least the 5th century BCE. There is some disagreement about whether Takshashila can be considered a university. While some consider Taxila to be an early university or centre of higher education, others do not consider it a university in the modern sense, in contrast to the later Nalanda University. Takshashila is described in some detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century CE.. 

Ruins of Taxila

Takshashila is considered a place of religious and historical sanctity by Hindus and Buddhists. The former do so not only because, in its time, Takshashila was the seat of Vedic learning, but also because the strategist, Chanakya, who later helped consolidate the empire of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, was a senior teacher there. The institution is very significant in Buddhist tradition since it is believed citation needed that the Mahāyāna sect of Buddhism took shape there. 

Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BCE or 7th century BCE. It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries before Christ, and continued to attract students from around the old world until the destruction of the city in the 5th century CE. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya), the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila . 

Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science.

Nalanda University

Nalanda was the largest residential centre of learning that the world had ever known. The library was located in a nine storied building. Since the time of Buddha,the bhikkus were always encouraged to study the various arts and sciences. Learning was greatly encouraged as served dual proposes: knowledge and practice. The monks,therefore took to learning so that they might practice it and realise Dhamma perfectly and thereby enrich the masses. 


The University of Nalanda was founded in the 5th century by the Gupta emperors. There were thousands of students and teachers. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning. The courses offered at Nalanda included the study of scriptures of Mahayana and Hinayana Schools of Buddhism,Brahminical vedic texts,Philosophy,logic theology,grammer,astronomy,mathematics and medicine. Its importance as a monastic university continued until the end of the 12th century. 

The International Scholastic Centre at Nalanda described by later Scholars as an International University was founded much earlier than the 5th century A.D. Nalanda eventually developed into the greatest ancient centre of Buddhist learning. Students from China and Korea,Sri Lanka and Indonesia and from all the regions of India came to Nalanda to study. 

As is evident from the remains of Nalanda,there were row of monastery sites lies from south to north. By and large all of them are of the same pattern. But most important of them is site no.1,entrance of which lies in the west wall through a large portico of which the roof rested on pillars. At a later period this portico was converted into a porch with an ante-chamber by the addition of two walls. 

A long succession of kings from 5th to 12th century extended their royal patronage to ensure the progress and prosperity of the university. The university received royal patronage of the great emperor Harshavardhana of Kannauj and also pala kings. It was a great centre of learning and students from foreign centre of learning and students from foreign countries were also attracted to this university. 

Nalanda during its days was a flourishing residential university with over 10,000 students and 1500 teachers. The university was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Hiuen Tsang,the Chinese pilgrim spent three years at Nalanda. He has left a detailed note about the university,its curriculum,activities and other accounts. The Tibetan pilgrim Dharmasvamin was here in 1234 and has left an a gripping account of the monastery's destruction by the Muslims. 

Nalanda today is in ruins but still it imparts the scholarly look. The archaeological zone here is classified into a number of sites that include 11 monasteries and several temples built in red bricks. 


Ruins of Vikramshila University

Vikramsila

Vikramsila is a town situated in the state of Bihar, India. It lies at a distance of approximately 40 km from the city of Bhagalpur. One of the popular Buddhist destinations in India, Vikramshila cannot boast of a direct relation with Lord Buddha. It is mainly renowned for being one of the most significant centers of Tantric Buddhism, in the 8th century AD. It also houses the famous Vikramasila University, the main intellectual as well as learning center of Tantric Buddhism.

The University was built under the patronage of Dharmapala, a Pala king. Also known as Paramasaugata (meaning, the chief worshipper of the Buddha), he was a great follower of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. The center of the university once had a huge temple, adorned with a life-size copy of the Mahabodhi tree. It is said that approximately 108 temples were constructed around it. Out of these, almost 53 temples were dedicated to the study of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. 

The entrance of the main temple stood guarded by two brilliant statues of Nagarjuna and Atisa Dipankar (a great scholar of the Vikramasila University). Vikramshila also lies very close to Champanagar, another famous Buddhist destination in Bihar.