PATNA/BHAGALPUR: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has started excavation work to further unearth remnants of Vikramasila Mahavihara, the celebrated university founded by Pala king Dharmapala in late 8th or early 9th Century AD, at Antichak village in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district after a gap of almost 42 years.
The Vikramasila Mahavihara University prospered for about four centuries before it collapsed in the beginning of the 13th Century AD.
“Earlier, the meticulous excavation at the site conducted by the ASI (1972-82) revealed a huge square monastery with a cruciform stupa in its centre, a library building and cluster of votive stupas”, said Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Patna Circle, Goutami Bhattacharya.
The site was earlier excavated (before 1982) by Dr B S Verma under the Vikramshila excavation project, she added.
Vikramasila was one of the largest Buddhist universities having more than a 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.