UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 1 Q2: model answer
Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.
What the question wants
Enumerate why the Pala period was the most significant phase of Buddhism in India.
How to structure it
Enumerate: list points clearly, numbered, with brief support.
- Royal patronage
- Monastic universities
- Vajrayana
- Art and international spread
How to think it through
Enumerate means list. No flowing essay: number your points and keep each one crisp. The Palas were the last great royal patrons of Buddhism in India, and through them Buddhism travelled to Tibet. That 'export' point lifts an average answer.
Model answer
When Atisha Dipankara left Vikramashila for Tibet in 1040, he carried with him the learning of a Buddhist world nurtured by the Palas of Bengal and Bihar (8th–12th century), the last major royal patrons of Buddhism in India.
Why the Pala period was significant
- 1. Royal patronage: Dharmapala and Devapala supported monasteries and scholars.
- 2. Monastic universities: Nalanda flourished, and Vikramashila (founded by Dharmapala), Somapura (Paharpur, now in Bangladesh, a UNESCO site) and Odantapuri grew.
- 3. Vajrayana Buddhism developed its tantric texts and practices.
- 4. International spread: Atisha Dipankara went from Vikramashila to Tibet; the Shailendra king Balaputradeva endowed a monastery at Nalanda.
- 5. Art: Pala bronzes and palm-leaf manuscript painting influenced Nepal, Tibet and Southeast Asia.
Decline after the Palas
- With the Turkish raids of the late 12th century, Nalanda and Vikramashila were destroyed; scholars fled to Tibet and Nepal.
- Pala Buddhism therefore survives most clearly in Tibetan monasteries and texts.
The Pala era was Buddhism's last great flowering in India and the bridge that carried it to Tibet and beyond, which justifies calling it its most significant phase.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Dharmapala, Vikramashila, Somapura Mahavihara, Atisha, Vajrayana, Pala bronzes.
Where most answers lose marks
- Writing paragraphs. 'Enumerate' wants a clean, numbered list.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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