The works of Aryabhata dealt with mainly mathematics and astronomy. He also worked on the approximation for pi.
Name
While there is a tendency to misspell his name as "Aryabhatta" by analogy with other names having the "bhatta" suffix, his name is properly spelled Aryabhata: every astronomical text spells his name thus,[6] including Brahmagupta's references to him "in more than a hundred places by name".[7] Furthermore, in most instances "Aryabhatta" does not fit the metre either.[6]
Time and place of birth
Aryabhata mentions in the Aryabhatiya that it was composed 3,600 years into the Kali Yuga, when he was 23 years old. This corresponds to 499 CE, and implies that he was born in 476.[4]
Aryabhata's birthplace is uncertain, but it may have been in the area known in ancient texts as Ashmaka India which may have been Maharashtra or Dhaka.[8]
Education
It is fairly certain that, at some point, he went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time.[9] Both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, as well as Bhāskara I (CE 629), identify Kusumapura as Pāṭaliputra, modern Patna.[6] A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura, and, because the university of Nalanda was in Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory, it is speculated that Aryabhata might have been the head of the Nalanda university as well.[6] Aryabhata is also reputed to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.[10]
Other hypotheses
Some archeological evidence suggests that Aryabhata could have originated from the present day Kodungallur which was the