Raw data
Valabhi was the other great Indian Buddhist university, after Nalanda. It was Hinayana as opposed to Nalanda, which was primarily Mahayana. The site dates from around 520 AD when patronage by the Maitraka dynasty began. Royal patronage provided plenty of land and income. Xuanzang visited in 640 AD and found 100 monasteries and 6000 monks. it had an extensive library. A near-contemporary text recounts a Brahmin in the Ganges Valley sending his son to Valabhi for education. Apparently the site was ransacked and destroyed by Muslim invaders from Sindh in 788 AD and nothing is known of it after that date. The location is today called Vala in Gujarat. See Ahir, Buddhist Sites and shrines, p.p. 110-113.
Src: IN
Input by: SG February 27 2009
Valabhipur, India Page
Other names: Vallabhipur,Valabhīpur,Vala
World:India:State of Gujarat
Latitude 21.8833 Longitude 71.8667
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 2 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Valabhi monastery, IN.
lat=21.8833 long=71.8667
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Valabhi monastery
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- India:State of Gujarat
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
final data ….
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx., Lat 21.8833 Long 71.8667 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- Vala monastic cluster
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- Vallabhipur - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
- Valabhīpur - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
- Vala - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Exactly, Lat 21.8833 Long 71.8667 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Valabhipur.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Theravada
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
final data ….
11. Date-early
- 520 CE
12. Date-intermediate
- 640 CE when Xuanzang visited
13. Date-late
- 788 CE. Destroyed by Muslim invaders
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
- 7th Century account of a Brahmin from around Benares (i.e. Varanasi) sending his son for training to Valabhi
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- Archaeological, texts.
16. Additional notes
final data ….
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
final data ….
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