Vikramasila

Located at about 40 km from Bhagalpur city of Bihar, Vikramshila is one of the famous Buddhist locations of India. Alhough Vikramasila has no known association with Lord Buddha, it emerged as the most important center of Tantric Buddhism, in the 8th century CE. The famous 8th century CE Vikramasila University here, was the main intellectual and learning center for Tantric Buddhism.

The University was built by a famous Pala king Dharmapala (770-810 A.D.), who loved to be called as Paramasaugata (chief worshipper of the Buddha) and was a great patron of Mahayana Buddhism. At its center, once stood a grand temple housing a life-size copy of the Mahabodhi tree. A total of 108 temples were built around it, out of which 53 were dedicated for the study of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. At the entrance to the main temple, there were two magnificent statues of Nagarjuna and Atisha Dipamkara (one of the great scholars of the Vikramasila University). Vikramasila is also known for its proximity to Champanagar, another famous Buddhist destination in the region.