प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

116 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
colony was surrounded by an encircling wall with a
door in the southern side.¹
Boarding and Lodging Arrangement: Monk-
students were lodged in monasteries specially built
for the purpose. Recent excavations have so far
revealed the existence of thirteen such monasteries,
and a glance at the topography shows that some
more must have existed. Monasteries were at least
two storeys in height and had both single-seated
and double-seated rooms in them. Each room had
one stone cot for each occupant and was also provided
with nitches for lamp, books, etc. In one corner of the
court-yard of each monastery, a well has been
unearthed, showing that the problem of water supply
was not overlooked. Rooms were assigned to the
monk-students according to their seniority and
redistribution took place every year. Hearths of
huge dimensions have been discovered in each
monastery, showing that the messing arrangements
were common. The University had received 200 rich
villages as endowment² and so could offer free boarding
and clothing to its students. The usual practice in
Buddhist monasteries was to offer these facilities to
lay students, only if they agreed to perform some
menial service.³ It is however possible that Nālandā
may have offered free lodging and boarding to its

1. Beal, The Life of Hiuen Tsang (by Shaman Hwui) pp. 109-
   114; Watters, II, pp. 164-171 and Itsing, pp. 30, 65, 86, and 154 are
   the main sources of information about Nālandā.
2. This is the number given by I-tsing, who had stayed at
   Nālandā for 10 years. Yuan-Chwang's biographer mentions only 100
   villages in this connection. More villages may have been received in
   the interval between the two writers.
3. I-tsing, p. 106. In medieval Christian monasteries, the
   practice was to offer free tuition to all those who intended to join the
   Order; the laity was expected to pay small voluntary fee for the
   education of its children. Graves, A History, p. 81.