The University of Nalanda c9.2

c9.2

A marked feature of Indian history is the immense number of traditional and legendary accounts. Kings, of however small and insignificant a place, claim their descent from some supernatural agency, usually the Sun or the Moon. As with kings, so with places. They also have their theory of divine or supernatural origin. It is not we, moderns, that are struck with these accounts. Even the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsiang was so much surprised with the name Nālandā, that in the very beginning of his account of the place, he discusses the various theories as to the origin of the name, leaving aside its other more attractive features. He says, "Going north from this, 30 li or so, we come to Nālandā saṅghārāma. The old accounts of the country say that to the south of this saṅghārāma, in the middle of an Āmra (mango) grove, there is a tank. The Nāga of this tank is called Nālandā. By the side of it is built the saṅghārāma, which therefore takes the name of the Nāga."[1]