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

130 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. Rāmapāla at his capital Rāmāvtī) were famous centres of learning, spreading the holy knowledge both in India and abroad. We would not be wrong if we assume that during the days of Buddhist ascendancy, at least ten per cent of the well-endowed monasteries were respectable centres of learning and education, at least of the status of modern degree colleges. The contribution of Buddhism to the cause of learning and education was thus very great. HINDU TEMPLE COLLEGES. Introduction : We have seen already how edu- cational activity became a part of the daily monastic life fairly early in the history of Buddhism. It is, however, only from the 10th century that we get evidence of Hindu temples becoming centres of higher education. It is however quite possible that temples began to undertake educational work much earlier, though we have yet no evidence on the point. The causes that led to this new development have been indicated already at pp. 72-3. SALOTGI TEMPLE COLLEGE. A Famous and Free College : The village of Salotgi in Bijapur District of the Bombay Presidency was a famous centre, probably of Vedic learning, in the 10th and 11th centuries A. D. The Sanskrit college that flourished at this place must have existed for a long time, for it eventually transformed the original name of the place, Pāviṭṭage, into Sālotgi, which is an abbreviated and Prakritised compound of Śālā and Pāviṭṭage. The college was located in a spacious hall, attached to the temple of Trayī-Purusha, which was built by Nārāyaṇa, a minister of the Rāshtrakūṭa emperor Kṛishṇa III. Owing to its far spread fame for efficiency, the college could attract students from