Bihar, which is home to the remains of 4th century ancient Nalanda and 8th-century Vikramshila University got another gem in its basket as "Tiladhak University”, which is presumed to be older than Nalanda. Remains of this ancient university have been discovered in Bihar during excavation of a 45-foot high mound, at the Buddhist monastery site of Telhara about 33 km west of Nalanda University. This is the discovery of the remains of a third ancient university in the state.
Initially, it was prevalently known that Tiladhak ancient university was set up in the 5th century during the Gupta period. "Deeper excavation indicates that foundation of Tiladhak University was laid during Kushan period in first century AD and not Gupta period as prevalently known so far. This indicates that the Buddhist mahavihara found at the site might be more ancient than the mahavihara that exists at Nalanda and Vikramshila.
Remains of "Tiladhak" ancient university are spread in a big area and will take more time for full excavation - just like Nalanda where the excavation took years. Archeologists have found a huge floor, statues of bronze and stone, and over 100 seals there.
Telhara was visited by Chinese traveler Heuen Tsang in the 7th century A.D. and it was mentioned as "Teleadaka" in his account. However, according to Calcutta University’s S. Sanyal, who studied four monastery seals found during excavation, the mahavihara’s name is “Sri Prathamshipur mahaviharey bhikshu sanghas.”. Tsang has given a graphic account of a cluster of as many as seven Buddhist monasteries flourishing at "Teleadaka", also called "Tiladhak", at Telhara site, where about a thousand monks studied under the Mahayana school of Buddhism.
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