The monastery of Odantapuri, from which the name Bihar is usually traced, was founded by whom?
- A.Gopala
- B.Bimbisara
- C.Ajatashatru
- D.Samudragupta
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Gopala. Gopala, the first king of the Pala dynasty, founded Odantapuri at the place now called Biharsharif in Nalanda district. The word vihara, meaning a Buddhist monastery, gave the region and then the state its name, and Odantapuri is the monastery most often named in that explanation.
Option B is wrong because Bimbisara was a Magadhan king of the Buddha own time, remembered for the gift of the Veluvana at Rajgir. Option C is wrong because Ajatashatru, his son, is associated with the first Buddhist council at Rajgir and with the fortification of Pataliputra. Option D is wrong because Samudragupta was a Gupta conqueror of the fourth century with no link to Odantapuri. The derivation of the state name from vihara is itself a favourite one mark question, so learn Gopala, Odantapuri and Biharsharif as a single chain.
Read the full article: Nalanda, Vikramshila and Ancient Learning in Bihar
Practice Questions
View allNalanda was an ancient centre of learning for which religion?
- A.Islam
- B.Christianity
- C.Jainism
- D.Buddhism
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Nalanda was a Buddhist monastic university, a mahavihara, where the main course of study was the Mahayana canon along with logic, grammar, medicine and astronomy.
Read the full explanation →The Nalanda Mahavihara was founded by which ruler?
- A.Ashoka
- B.Kumaragupta the first
- C.Harshavardhana
- D.Dharmapala
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The Gupta emperor Kumaragupta the first, who appears in the records with the title Shakraditya, founded the monastic university at Nalanda in the fifth century.
Read the full explanation →Under which teacher did the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang study at Nalanda?
- A.Shilabhadra
- B.Nagarjuna
- C.Atisha Dipankara
- D.Shantarakshita
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Hiuen Tsang reached Nalanda in the seventh century during the reign of Harshavardhana and spent several years there studying the Yogachara philosophy under Shilabhadra, who was then the abbot.
Read the full explanation →Vikramshila university was founded by which ruler?
- A.Gopala
- B.Devapala
- C.Dharmapala
- D.Kumaragupta the first
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The Pala king Dharmapala founded Vikramshila in the late eighth century at Antichak in what is now Bhagalpur district, on a height above the Ganga, as a rival and a complement to Nalanda.
Read the full explanation →The remains of Vikramshila are located in which district of Bihar?
- A.Nalanda
- B.Bhagalpur
- C.Gaya
- D.Vaishali
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Vikramshila stood at Antichak village in Bhagalpur district, on raised ground overlooking the Ganga, and excavation has revealed a great cruciform stupa at the centre with monastic cells arranged in a square around it, a plan very different from the rows of monasteries at Nalanda.
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