Photo: Sumitsurai · CC BY-SA 4.0The Pala king Devapala grants five villages to a monastery at Nalanda built by Balaputradeva, the Shailendra king of Suvarnadvipa (Sumatra).
Balaputradeva, grandson of the king of Yavabhumi (Java), had a monastery raised at Nalanda and sent envoys to ask Devapala for its upkeep. Devapala gave five villages in the Rajagriha and Gaya districts, for worship of the Buddha, for the monks from the four quarters, for medicine and for copying the sacred books.
It proves the tie between Nalanda and the Shailendras of Sumatra and Java, and shows Bharat’s great university drawing kings from across the sea.
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