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.