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Vikramshila University was one of the two most important Buddhist learning centres in ancient India during the Pala dynasty. It had an equal footing along with Nalanda University in the domain of Buddhist learning. Vikramshila was established by King Dharmapala when he felt a decline in the quality of learning at Nalanda. The ruins of the ancient university are a sight of marvel as it is a huge square monastery with a stupa in the centre, a library building and a cluster of stupas. A Tibetan and a Hindu temple have also been excavated.
Vikramashila (village Antichak, district Bhagalpur, Bihar) is located at about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and about 13 km north-east of Kahalgaon, a town in Bhagalpur district . It is approachable through 11 km long motorable road diverting from NH-80 at Anadipur about 2 km from Kahalgaon.
Vikramashila was one of the largest Buddhist universities, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion. The most distinguished and eminent among all was Atisha Dipankara, a founder of the Sarma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Subjects like philosophy, grammar, metaphysics, Indian logic etc. were taught here, but the most important branch of learning was tantrism.
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