Ancient Nalanda Ruins - a visit to explore

Inside the gate, there was a school group having their picture taken. I waited for them to finish and then started walking by. One man spotted me and asked me to be in their picture then he thanked me...

Since I went to the ruins to explore, I thought I'd start with Temple 2. I really liked this temple because it has wonderful panels all around the outside.  I walked all around it, taking pictures, and then because it was extremely hot, I walked over to shady spot under a tree, shared a cookie with a dog, and drank some of my aum (mango) juice. Aum juice is very refreshing, but a little too sweet for my tastes.  So, I decided to cut it with a little water. This thought made me enter the ruins (heading for the water pump). I decided to look at Monastery 7 first, before getting water.

view of Temple 2 from the Monastery 7 wall

I wandered all around monastery 7. Then I sat on a shady step in a very isolated spot of the monastery so that I could read in my Nalanda ruins book about Monastery 7. Luckily, the passage was a short one to read and there was no one around, so I finished looking around and headed once again for the water.

the lower portion is debris (old broken brick that
became the foundation for the new brick)

the only shady spot to sit in Monastery 7
 at that time of day

the excavated wall being reclaimed

I was passing the stupas near Temple 12 when a guard started pointing out the Buddhas on the stupas. He motioned for me to go down the steps to the stupas for a closer look, so I did. I just looked. Then he kept saying something about money…..finally I gave him 10 rupees and another guy with him 10 rupees and asked if I could take a picture. The guard wanted more money but I refused so he walked away and the other guy pointed out Buddhas again. Finally, I made it to the water pump and pumped some water into my juice and took a long drink.

Archaeology Survey of India
marked this stupa that they most likely renovated in 1957-58.

I spotted some beautiful flowers, so I started taking pictures of the flowers with Temple 3 in the background. But now the gardeners were begging for money, so I walked down the path to the back side of Temple 3. When I got to a shady spot, I sat on the sidewalk and did a little stitch work.

Another guard came and asked where I was from and I told him. He didn’t ask for money but he stood a short distance from me. Then a cute young couple from Patna came over. The young man asked where I was from and then he wanted to know who I was with. When I told him I was “unmarried” he thought I was “brave” or something like that. Then the young girl asked him to ask me for a dollar bill or any US coins. I had to tell him I didn’t have any US money on me. They walked away but the guard had a US dollar bill. So the young man brought me a 100 rupee note and asked if I had two fifty’s. I looked but didn’t, so then his girlfriend found two fifty’s. The guard got an excellent exchange rate!!!!! 1 USD for 50 rupees. The young man told me that the woman was his wife and then clarified soon-to-be-wife and they walked away!!