Previous Year Question

Vikramshila Vihara was established by the Pala ruler Dharmapala in the latter part of the 8th century. Dharmapala was the son and successor of Gopala, the founder of the Pala dynasty, and his reign is generally placed approximately between 770 and 810 CE.

Vikramshila was situated in the present-day Antichak area of Bhagalpur district in Bihar. It developed into one of the major centres of Buddhist learning in Pala-period India and, along with Nalanda, represented an important tradition of higher Buddhist education in eastern India.

Dharmapala was an important patron of Buddhism, particularly the Mahayana tradition. Under his patronage, apart from Vikramshila, Buddhist institutions such as the Somapura Mahavihara also developed. Subjects such as Buddhist philosophy, grammar, logic, Tantra and other disciplines were studied at Vikramshila.

Vikramshila became particularly important as a major centre of Vajrayana and Tantric Buddhism. It had an organized system of teaching and admission, and tradition refers to eminent scholars being appointed as Dvara-Panditas, or gate scholars, associated with different entrances.

Among the most famous scholars associated with Vikramshila was Dipankara Srijnana Atisha. He later travelled to Tibet and played an important role in the reorganization and spread of Buddhism there.