BIHAR UNPACKEDBuilt on evidence
Places/Nalanda

archaeological site / Bihar

Nalanda Mahavihara

The photograph is full of steps: broad brick stairways, small openings and repeated edges. Nalanda's surviving buildings once belonged to a monastic and scholastic institution. The 23-hectare UNESCO property is one part of that history, not the whole district that now carries its name.

Red brick stairs, walls and passages in the excavated remains of Nalanda Mahavihara.
2016 · PhotographUphogaphy · CC BY-SA 4.0Resized; soft edge treatment in the page. Original image and marks retained.

In the record

The archaeological site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2016.

Its remains include stupas, shrines, residential and educational buildings, and artworks.

UNESCO identifies the inscribed property as 23 hectares. This is the heritage property area, not Nalanda district's area.

Return to Nalanda in the archive