Narrative of Vikramshila University: The Ganga of Knowledge I

6 December 2010

1.13 pm

Before I enter the premises of the ancient Vikramshila University, I leave my bicycle  out near the entrance of the site of the ruins. I read the ticket rates on the counter: for Indians Rs 5, for foreigners Rs 100. Now I am proud to be an Indian as I have saved Rs 95! And foreigners come here like migratory birds-once in a blue moon.

Now I am sitting on an iron bench lying in the premises of Vikramshila Museum. The newly built museum is a part of the site of ancient Vikramshila University ruins that is located in a small village (around 40 km east from the district headquarter) of Bhagalpur district of Bihar, India.  The entire site and the museum are maintained by India’s patron for historical heritage: the Archaeological Survey of India. Though the building that houses the museum is small in size, the lawn which surrounds it, is a beautiful and calm place to relax. The winter sky is almost cloudy. The lawn has grown natural grass and is dotted with the patches of rose bushes and other plants. Those visitors of rural background are less interested in the articles and antiquities kept inside the museum than in taking photographs in the lush green lawn (with family, kids and friends). Besides digital camera and cellphone camera, still camera is also in vogue. They narrate the development and heritage of rural Bihar simultaneously.

From outside of the Museum

1.30 pm

The introductory board of the Vikramshila Museum reads:

The Vikramshila museum established in 2004 displays some selected antiquities unearthed in excavations conducted by Archaeological Survey of India (1972-82) at the nearby site identified to be remains of Vikramshila Mahavihar, the celebrated ancient university founded by Pala king Dharmapala in late 8^th or early 9^th century A.D. which prospered for about four centuries.

The excavation has revealed a large Buddhist monastery with and imposing stupa in its centre and votive stupas in addition to some small shrines of later period including a Tibetan and a Hindu temple. The general plan of the monastery greatly resembles the contemporary Somapura Mahavihar, Paharpur, Bangladesh.

The antiquities from Vikramshila belong to a single cultural period ranging from 8^th to 12^th century A.D. but their features specially noticed in sculptures are testimony of a distinct school of art termed as Pala art or the mediaeval eastern Indian School of art. The Pala sculptures are mostly stele carved in high relief showing fine craftsmanship, delicate carving and intricate ornamentation. In addition a remarkable shine is noticed in some of the sculptures carved out of coarse or fine grained black basalt quarried from the hills of Rajmahal, some sculptures are made in limestone from Pathargatta hills.

Apart from a large number of architectural fragments, many stone sculptures and bronze images of gods and goddesses from Buddhism as well as Hinduism have been found in the excavation. Notable among the Buddhist images are Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya, Manjusri, Tara etc. while the Brahmanical images include Vishnu, Uma Maheshvar, Mahishasurmardini, Ganesh, Surya, etc.

Other antiquities of Vikramshila include terracotta discs, toy rattles, skin rubber, seals and sealings, beads of stone glass and terracotta, household earthen utensils of different shapes, coins, inscriptions, antimony rods, copper rings, copper and ivory bangles, bronze nose rings, dices of ivory, bone points, antlers, iron arrowheads daggers and shields.