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I
read about Hiuen Tsang who came from China to
India in 7th century in our history course as
student for school final examination. And with a
little interest in history of Bihar, I kept on
reading whatever and whenever I got about him
and his account of Nalanda University.
 It
was in December1966 that I visited Nalanda as
tourist after my adventurous social service work
with Jai Prakash Narayan’s Bihar Draught Relief
at Noorsarai along with some foreign volunteers.
It is interesting to know from media that 2006
has been declared as India-China friendship
year. A temple dedicated to the Chinese traveler
Hiuen Tsang, lying in ruins for long at the
university town of Nalanda has been
reconstructed through a joint India-China
effort. As reported, various crafts-persons,
artists and technicians from India as well as
China are working in Nalanda to complete the
renovation by October 31. Murals from Luoyang
near Xiang, Hiuen Tsang's birthplace, have been
flown. A mammoth, gleaming and impressive
monastery-like structure—over 56 feet tall—is
being readied. Care has been taken to keep the
architecture as authentic as possible. A statue
of Hiuen Tsang, cast in bronze and weighing 750
kg, stands guard at the entrance. The temple
will also house ancient manuscripts from
Thailand, Sri Lanka and China. Once the temple
is ready after renovation, Hiuen Tsang's mortal
remains, currently housed in Patna Museum, will
be formally moved to Nalanda.
The temple will add to the tourist attraction of
Nalanda. There is also an ambitious plan to
restore some of Nalanda's lost glory. A new
cultural village that can add to visitor’s
attraction is on the drawing board
 As
it appears Nalanda has and can provide a lasting
link between the intellectuals of China and
India. It is Nalanda where Hiuen Tsang spent
almost 12 years in the company of several
thousand scholar-monks. Hiuen Tsang studied
logic, grammar, Sanskrit and the Yogacara school
of Buddhism, and returned with 650-odd Sanskrit
texts.
Plans are also afoot to replicate the ancient
Nalanda University, where Hiuen Tsang spent
considerable time in the 7th century AD. Nitish
Kumar is taking a keen interest. Interestingly,
Nalanda is his home constituency too. The plan
is afoot to set up an international university
of Nalanda spread over 500 acres. As reported,
Korea, Japan, and Thailand have shown interest
to pitch in with the funds. Singapore and Japan
officials have already met with CM to discuss
the project.
I dream of a University of Nalanda, that can
academically compete with the best of the
universities in the world in thousands of acres
properly landscaped with all academic
facilities. Let each of the participating
country build one college of specific branches
of knowledge. Let there be American Institute of
Advanced Sciences, German College of
Engineering, Italian Institute of Fashion
Design, French Institutes of Fine Arts, Russian
College of Aeronautical Engineering, Indian
Institutes of Applied Philosophy, International
Management Institute funded by Switzerland,
Asian Agricultural Institute, and many more from
different countries but at the same time the
best in its core domain knowledge with all the
best infrastructure for learning, libraries,
auditorium, playgrounds as well as the township.
All institutes in the university must be open to
all countries based on merit with no quota of
any type.
I don’t know if Nitish can take the project as a
mission of his life and build something that can
be remembered in the same way as old Nalanda
University is remembered even today after
thousands of years. It is possible if he decides
to request either Singapore or Japan to get the
project executed.
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Comments: |
The author's dream of Sino-Indian
cooperation on Huen Tsang's journey
exudes a 'feel-good' bonhomie like
imagined relationship between India
and China. I see it as utopia -
considering how things stand today.
The punishing 1962 Chinese attack on
India was in retaliation against
India giving asylum to the Dalai
Lama. Mao-tse-Tung's aversion of
religion was legendary. The Chinese
grabbed Tibet, a theocracy and have
gradually worked at erasing the
remaining vestiges of Buddhism from
the lives of the Tibetan Populace.
Less than a week ago, a defenseless
Buddhist nun trying to cross from
China to India was shot dead in the
Himalayas. Various mountaineering
expeditions witnessed, and even
photographed, this inhuman criminal
act. It was on the BBC website for
the world to see.
Yes, we can venerate Huen Tsang, but
as long as the Buddhist aspects of
his visit get highlighted, the
Chinese are bound to look the other
way. - Aarcee - Oct. 18, 2006
The people from the home state of
Ashoka should not lose hope so
easily. Moreover, in the world today
we can win countries by our economic
power. My suggestion will bring
prosperity to the region. It may
look like Utopian but give the
project to Japanese or Singaporean,
they will execute it. - Indra - Oct. 19, 2006
Bihar needs moral and intellectual
regeneration. The media should
remind the world that greatest son
of India, Lord Buddha, was born
here. His teaching inspired
approximately two billion people
across the world. Nalanda is the
living example of that inspiration.
- Ashutosh Mukherji, UK - Oct.
20, 2006
Japan's ambassador to India,
Yasukuni Enoki, during his two day
trip to Bihar on Monday, said his
government was keen on investing in
the development of the Buddhist
circuit in Bihar in an attempt to
turn it around the choice
destinations for Buddhist pilgrims
from around the world. Why is Japan
so keen to invest here? Have they
suddenly realized now that Buddha
was from Bihar and that state is in
India? Why was this religious
generosity not shown earlier?
Well, just to understand things in
the right perspective, Japan has
always been one of India's biggest
critics. Nestled comfortably in the
post World War defense agreement
with the US, Japan till recently had
no real security concerns. As there
was no unfruitful drain on resources
in maintaining an army and buying
military hardware, all it's money
was used for development. No wonder
they developed fast. Hence Japan,
with the arrogance of the well fed,
never wanted to agree with the
security concerns India had. India
lived in the toughest neighborhood
in the world and had been attacked
several times. Japan displayed a
total lack of sensitivity to India's
concerns in the past. When India
tested it's first N-bomb Japan was
one of the most severe critics
calling for sanctions against India.
US and Japan put magnifying glasses
and microscopes on India's nuclear
programme waiting for India to
proliferate the technology to punish
India more, while China, Pakistan
and N. Korea happily traded the
dreaded technology.
Now why this change of heart? The
answer is obvious. India is rising
fast. Very soon there will be two
big powers in Asia, China and India.
Japan has always been uneasy with
the unpredictable China. India is
poised to be a responsible
democratic power. Also, in the fast
changing world, Japan has a crisis
of strategy in being viewed as a US
crony. China is fast emerging as an
adversary. The recent N. Korean
N-test and the damped Chinese
reaction makes things pretty
obvious. If Japan has to feel secure
it needs more strong friends. This
seems to be the real reason for this
recent religious magnanimity which
was never displayed in the past. -
Rajesh - Oct. 20, 2006
When I wrote 'Hiuen Tsang can link
China- India', my focus was only on
creating a mega-mega university at
Nalanda that can bring back the
glory of the old university. Why
should we bother about the other
country's political games? Bihar
must economically develop. 'Samarath
ke nahin dosh gushain.' Bihar and
for that matter India must become a
real 'samarath' first. If Bihar
would have been rich and developed,
no one would have looked down upon
it and its people. Education is the
only sector that can make Bihar
excel. All these days I am trying to
convince through my write-ups this
aspect to all who matter. Japan and
Singapore can help Bihar in getting
the dream of a mega-university that
can attract the global attention
realised. I wish Nitish ji does that
by taking it as a project of high
importance for Bihar. It shall
establish his credibility too. -
Indra
- Oct. 24, 2006
Very true. India must take advantage
of every window of opportunity to
develop. Heavy investment in needed
in infrastructure, education, health
care and rural development etc. The
root causes of most of India's evils
are an ever expanding population and
lack of education. It is heartening
to note that the rate of growth of
population has been falling
steadily. While more effort is
required there educating rural
people must also be on top of the
agenda. Educating people does not
seem to suit the political needs of
many unscrupulous politicians as
they understand that an educated
electorate will never elect them. I
had suggested, in a previous
article, that India must develop a
fast track education system pronto
whose controls are with the
President of India. I think that is
the right way ahead. - Rajesh
- Oct. 25, 2006 |
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