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Nalanda
just allures and excites me. It got a mention in
the President’s address to ‘Bihar Global Meet’
in Patna again.
“Renaissance - Nalanda International University:
University with international partnership with
an outlay of Rs. 500 crores ($100 million). The
focus of the university is the evolution of
world of peace and prosperity, devoid of crime,
terrorism and war. It will draw inspiration from
the rich historical traditions of Nalanda,
Bodhgaya where Lord Buddha got enlightenment and
other spiritual centers in Bihar to create a new
framework, in the modern context, to generate,
share and disseminate knowledge and skills. It
will be a place for meeting of minds from the
national and international arena to do research
on unity of minds linking human welfare,
science, technologies, economics and
spirituality with reference to ancient and
modern thinking.”
I dream of a unique huge university campus or
city, the largest in the world with 100 or more
extensions of the best institutions of higher
learning such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Tokyo
University, Oxford, and Cambridge; and with
teachers, researchers, and students from all
over the world living together and pursuing the
ultimate in knowledge.
I find even the Prime Minister quite
enthusiastic of the project. His speech to
Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas had a special mention on
this:
“Singapore, along with China, Japan, South Korea
and other countries in the region, is supporting
us in the Nalanda Project to which Professor
Jayakumar made such a handsome reference. I
agree with the sentiments expressed recently by
Hon’ble Mr. George Yeo, the Foreign Minister of
Singapore, that the Nalanda Project should
emerge as “an icon of Asian renaissance”, and “a
centre of civilizational dialogue and
inter-faith understanding”, as indeed it was in
the ancient times.”
Addressing a gathering in New Delhi recently,
the Dalai Lama pleaded for a revival of the
Nalanda tradition that fell to ruin after
surviving long years of invasions and
incursions.
Can this dream of Nalanda International
University be realized?
It requires a very dynamic head to lead the
project as his life mission and no inference of
this or any government that comes hereafter at
the state level or at the center. Can’t the
government of India take this as a project of
national importance?
However, the editorial of Times of India on
January 20 came out with an interesting idea
when it talked about using the ancient
universities of the subcontinent to bring India
and Pakistan together forgetting the enmity
through these ancient links.
“The ancient universities of the subcontinent
included Taxila or Takshashila near present-day
Islamabad, Nalanda, near Patna in Bihar,
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Kanchipuram in Tamil
Nadu, and Ratnagiri in Orissa. There were many
more in South Asia, including Sri Lanka.
Centuries before America's Ivy League colleges,
UK's Oxford and Cambridge universities, France's
Sorbonne or even Germany's Heidelberg
University, the subcontinent's centres of higher
learning thrived in a climate of eclecticism,
freedom and cross-cultural knowledge-sharing,
spanning not just Buddhist and Hindu
philosophical studies but also other arts and
science subjects.
Nalanda University, established by the Guptas in
the fifth century, was rebuilt several times but
was neglected after the period of Harshavardhana.
The Nalanda ("giver of know-ledge") tradition
refers to study of various scriptures, arts and
sciences, focusing on both learning and
practice. Similarly, Taxila University,
established in the seventh century, was possibly
the most ancient university in the world. As a
centre of Gandhara, Greek, Vedic and Buddhist
learning, Taxila too was eventually ruined
following invasions and neglect. “
It is a wonderful idea to revive these learning
traditions and re-establishing Taxila and
Nalanda universities. The idea of Nalanda
International University is the step in the
right direction.
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