Baladitya Temple, Nalanda

Address

Baladitya Temple, Nalanda district, Bargaon, Bihar 803111

Diety

Gautama Buddha

Introduction

Nalanda ruins are located in Nalanda district, Bihar State. Constructed as a Mahavihara- a large Buddhist monastery in the kingdom of Magadh, (the present day Bihar state) with nearby city of Rajagiri as its capital. It was a center of learning from the 5th-12th centuries AD, one among the 3 residential universities of ancient India. It is said that the Jain thirthankara, Mahavira, spent 14 rainy seasons at Nalanda. Gautama Buddha too is said to have delivered lectures in a nearby mango grove named Pavarika and one of his two chief disciples, Shariputra, was born in the area and later attained nirvana there. This traditional association with Mahavira and Buddha tenuously dates the existence of the village to at least the 5th–6th century BCE.