The foundation of Nalanda Mahavihara in the fifth century CE is attributed to which ruler?
- A.Chandragupta II
- B.Kumaragupta I
- C.Dharmapala
- D.Harshavardhana
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Kumaragupta I. The founding of Nalanda is credited to the Gupta ruler Kumaragupta I in the fifth century CE, after which it grew for seven hundred years under later Gupta, Maukhari and Pala patronage until the raid of Bakhtiyar Khalji about 1193 CE.
Option A is wrong because Chandragupta II, though the best known Gupta emperor and the patron of Fa-hien visit to India, is not associated with the founding. Option C is wrong because Dharmapala, a Pala king, founded Vikramshila at Antichak instead. Option D is wrong because Harshavardhana was a later and generous patron of Nalanda, and Xuanzang records his gifts to it, but he did not found it. Odantapuri, the third great vihara, is credited to the Pala ruler Gopala.
Read the full article: Architecture, Monuments and Heritage Sites of Bihar
Practice Questions
View allWhich site of Bihar was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016?
- A.Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bodh Gaya
- B.Nalanda Mahavihara
- C.Vikramshila, Antichak
- D.Kesariya stupa
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The excavated remains of the ancient university at Nalanda were added to the World Heritage List in 2016 as an archaeological site, and they are the second World Heritage Site of Bihar.
Read the full explanation →Vikramshila Mahavihara at Antichak, in Bhagalpur district, was founded by which Pala ruler?
- A.Gopala
- B.Dharmapala
- C.Devapala
- D.Mahipala
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Vikramshila was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala and became, after Nalanda, the most important centre of Buddhist learning in eastern India, especially of tantric studies; its ruins at Antichak in Bhagalpur district show a large brick stupa surrounded by monastic cells.
Read the full explanation →The Lomas Rishi and Sudama caves, the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, are in which district of Bihar?
- A.Nalanda
- B.Jehanabad
- C.Gaya
- D.Rohtas
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The Barabar hills in Jehanabad district hold the Lomas Rishi and Sudama caves, cut in the Mauryan period and polished inside to a mirror finish; the carved chaitya-arch doorway of the Lomas Rishi cave is the earliest example of that motif in stone.
Read the full explanation →The Golghar, the granary built at Patna in 1786 after the famine of 1770, was designed by
- A.Captain John Garstin
- B.Aliwal Khan
- C.Alexander Cunningham
- D.Ibrahim Khan
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The Golghar was built in 1786 to a design by Captain John Garstin of the Bengal Engineers, as a store of grain against another famine like that of 1770; its beehive shape and the two spiral stairways on the outside make it the best known colonial building of Patna.
Read the full explanation →The octagonal tomb of Sher Shah Suri, built in the middle of an artificial lake, stands at
- A.Sasaram in Rohtas district
- B.Maner in Patna district
- C.Biharsharif in Nalanda district
- D.Antichak in Bhagalpur district
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The tomb of Sher Shah Suri rises on a stone plinth in the middle of a tank at Sasaram, an octagonal chamber under a single large dome with smaller domed kiosks around it, and it is the high point of Indo-Afghan building in India.
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