ODANTAPURI – The Second Oldest University

Odantapuri is a major Buddhist monastery located in Bihar, India. It is said to be the second oldest university in India. Odantapuri was established in the 8th century by the Pala ruler Gopal I. About 1000 students used to take education here. And many Tibetan scholars had studied here. 

There were about 50 teachers, out of which there lived about 1000 monks belonging to both Hinayana and Mahayana, whose number increased to 12 thousand. 

In 1193 AD, it was destroyed by a Turkic chieftain, Mohammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, who attacked it considering it as a fort, in which many Buddhist monks sacrificed their lives, and some who could escape from here went to Bengal. and fled towards Orissa. According to the biography of Dharmasvamin, who journeyed to India between 1234 and 1236, Odantapuri was turned into a military headquarters of the Turkic forces after its destruction.

Very few people are familiar with the history of this university, because to date its excavation work has not been done, due to which it is buried in the earth. Odantapuri had the status of an important learning center in ancient times, being a place of the historical development of Buddhism.