Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Early medieval · Buddhist · India

Odantapuri

ओदंतपुर

Bihar Sharif, Nalanda, Bihar · 25.1970°, 85.5180°

Buddha (mahavihara)Pala—Buddhist circuit
Sacred since
750 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
8th–9th c. (Pala)
Pala

History & significance

The second-oldest of India's mahaviharas after Nalanda, founded at Bihar Sharif under Gopala I and sustained by later Pala kings and the Pithipatis of Magadha, teaching both Hinayana and Mahayana. It declined in the eleventh century and was sacked around 1193 by Bakhtiyar Khalji.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

Tibetan tradition tells of a yogi and a Buddhist lay devotee performing a corpse rite to conjure the gold that paid for the monastery.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Pala