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Nalanda Buddhist Institute

Buddhist monastic school in Punakha District, Bhutan

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ6960797 ↗
Source-derived summary

Nalanda Buddhist Institute (NBI), also known locally as Daley Goenpa or Dalida, is a Buddhist monastic school (shedra) in the western part of the Punakha District (Dzongkhag) in Bhutan. It is below Talo Monastery and above Walakha, about a 25-minute drive from the main highway to Punakha. The name Nalanda means "insatiable giving".

Foundation of Nalanda Monastery

In 1757, the 9th Je Khenpo, Gyalwang Shakya Rinchen Rinpoche, considered to be a reincarnation of Rechung Dorje Drakpa, founded the Nalanda Monastery in Punakha. Shakya Rinchen was from Sha Rueb Samchokha in the Wangdue Phodrang District. Rechunga was one of two extraordinary disciples of Milarepa in the Kagyu Buddhist lineage. He was known as the "moon like" disciple of Milarepa and travelled to India to bring back profound teachings to Tibet. These important teachings were presented to Milarepa who absorbed them into the Kagyu lineage.

The "Two Nalandas: Bhutan and India"

At the time when this monastery was built, the ancient Nalanda University in India was a very holy and sacred place. The original Nalanda University is located in what was known as Magadha that is now near present-day Patna, the capital of the present day state of Bihar, India.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Nalanda Buddhist Institute” is buddhist monastic school in Punakha District, Bhutan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Nalanda, Buddhist and Institute, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1757—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Nalanda, Buddhist and Institute is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “buddhist monastic school in Punakha District, Bhutan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6960797. Authority coordinates are 27.541, 89.824. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1757.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Nalanda Buddhist Institute”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Nalanda Buddhist Institute primary sources, Nalanda Buddhist Institute archive and Nalanda research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nalanda Buddhist Institute”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Nalanda Buddhist Institute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.