Shariputra’s Stupa at Nalanda
he stupa of Venerable Shariputra, one of the greatest disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, who died at Nalanda. Nalanda is regarded as the first great residential university with as many as 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Many of the leading Buddhist scholars and practitioners whose books are listed here were abbots and teachers here. Its library was located in a nine storied building. Nalanda in Sanskrit means “giver of knowledge.” It is believed that Shakyamuni Buddha once used the village located at this site as His base of operation. A consortium led by Singapore and including China, India, and Japan is raising $1billion to build a revived Nalanda International University at this site with construction starting in 2009