Telhara monastery
Ancient site · Gautama Buddha; Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara images recovered here · Telhara, Nalanda, Bihar
It is the third great Magadhan mahavihara after Nalanda and Vikramshila, named in the Chinese pilgrims'...
An excavated Mahayana monastic site west of Bihar Sharif, occupied from about the 1st century CE to at least the 12th. Digs in 2009 and 2020-2022 exposed a three-storeyed structure, prayer halls and residential cells, with occupation layers running from the 6th century BCE. Xuanzang records it as a monastery of about 1,000 monks under the chief monk Prajnabhadra. A mosque built from monastery material stands on the site, and a State Government museum is under construction there. The principal sculptures are in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, and the Rietberg Museum, Zurich.
Plan your visit
- Area
- Nalanda
Experiences here
- Walk Nalanda with somebody who can read it: Ten metres of brick is a wall to most people and a lecture hall to a guide
Tirtham can arrange here
Guide, car and stay around Nalanda
Also around Nalanda
- Sattu sharbat in summer: What Bihar drinks against the heat: roasted gram, water, lemon and salt, sold from carts on every corner.
- Magahi paan: The betel leaf of old Magadh, soft enough to melt in the mouth, grown under thatch in Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad and Nalanda.
- Rajgir Mahotsav: Bihar's festival of classical dance and music, with a food fair, held in Rajgir each year.
- Silao khaja: A many-layered fried sweet made in Silao, on the road between Rajgir and Nalanda, GI-registered in 2018.
- Bawan Buti weaving of Nalanda: Fifty-two motifs woven into one cloth, many of them Buddhist, by a few families of Basawan Bigha; GI-registered in June 2026.
Nearby places
- Nalanda Mahavihara: The world's oldest residential university
- Archaeological Museum, Nalanda: Pilgrims and students come to see the Buddha and Bodhisattva images recovered from the mahavihara...
- Xuanzang Memorial Hall: Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian Buddhists come to venerate the relics of the pilgrim-scholar who...
- Black Buddha: Buddhists come for the ancient image itself; local Hindus have worshipped the same figure as Bhairav...
- Shvetambara Jain temple, Nalanda: Nalanda is where Mahavira spent fourteen rains retreats and where Indrabhuti Gautama, his chief...
- Surya Mandir, Surajpur Bargaon: It is one of Bihar's largest Chhath sites outside the river ghats; devotees come to offer arghya to the...
- Statue of Buddha, Jagdishpur: It is a living local shrine where an ancient Buddha image continues to receive Hindu worship, and a...
- Aashapuri Maharani Temple, Ghosrawan: Local and regional devotees come to the goddess; the village is also a stop for the Pala-period...
Questions pilgrims ask
Why is Telhara monastery important?
An excavated Mahayana monastic site west of Bihar Sharif, occupied from about the 1st century CE to at least the 12th. Digs in 2009 and 2020-2022 exposed a three-storeyed structure, prayer halls and residential cells, with occupation layers running from the 6th century BCE. Xuanzang records it as a monastery of about 1,000 monks under the chief monk Prajnabhadra. A mosque built from monastery material stands on the site, and a State Government museum is under construction there. The principal sculptures are in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, and the Rietberg Museum, Zurich.
Can Tirtham plan a yatra to Telhara monastery?
Yes. Tell us how long you have and who is going, and Tirtham plans the days, the guide, the car and the stay.
Plan my Yatra. Rather talk to someone? Call or WhatsApp +91 87893 56605, or contact us.