The Prime Minister inaugurated the newly constructed campus of Nalanda University, near to the site of the ancient ruins of Nalanda in Rajgir, Bihar on June 19.
The recently revived Nalanda University focuses on influencing the modern education and leverage global education along with cultural harmony. According to historian Pintu Kumar: “The emergence of ŚrīNālandāMahāvihāra and its new organised instructive practices marked the beginning of a new era in South Asian education.”
With the revival of the past glory, we will discuss about the history along with the remarkable contribution of the then teachers and students in making this Indian University a global University.
According to some Buddhist manuscripts, King Sakaraditya, also known as Kumara Gupta I, laid the foundations of the Nalanda University in the middle of the 5th century AD. The name ‘Nalanda’ is made up of three Sanskrit words ‘Na-Alam-Da’ which signifies “Unstoppable flow of Knowledge”. Situated around 95 km from Bihar's capital Patna, Nalanda University was an educational hub during 427 CE to 1197 CE. The University started to flourish during 5th century, when Gupta Empires were ruling. Later, Harshavardhana, the emperor of Kannauj helped this university to get the desired attention from the world.
At that time, the subjects taught in Nalanda University were Mathematics, Indian Philosophy, Grammar, Astronomy, Logic, and so on. Manuscripts from the Chinese pilgrims during 7th century C.E. gave a detailed view of nine-story buildings of the university.
During inauguration of the new campus, Mr. Modi said, “Nalanda is the proclamation of this truth that books may burn in the flames of fire, but the flames of fire cannot destroy knowledge. Nalanda is an identity, respect, and pride.”
We get to know a lot about this ancient university from the writings of global travelers including Hiuen Tsang, and many more. One of the famous mathematician, Aryabhata, who revolutionized the calculation system by inventing zero (0) was the head of this university.
There were Seventeen Pandits of Nalanda Monastery, who were influencial Buddhist masters giving learnings to the students. They were: Nagarjuna (2nd century C.E.), Aryadeva (3rd century C.E.), Vasubandhu (4th century C.E.), Dignaga (6th century C.E.), Dharmakirti (600-660 C.E.), Gunaprabha (9th century C.E.), Shakyaprabha, Buddhapalita (470-550 C.E.), Bhavaviveka (500-578 C.E.), Chandrakirti (600-650 C.E.), Shantarakshita (725-788 C.E.), Kamalashila (8th century C.E.), Haribhadra (700-770 C.E.), Vimuktisena (6th century C.E.), Shantideva (8th century C.E.), and Atisha (980-1054 C.E.). Other notable teachers were Dharmapala and Silabhadra.
As students across the globe came here to study, there was a wide range of diversity among them. Due to its residential facilities, students came, lived and gained knowledge in different subjects there. Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu were some of the famous scholars who studied in Nalanda University.
According to the historians, Nalanda University was attacked and destroyed numerous occasions. However, the attack during 1193 CE led to the destruction of this educational hub totally.
“India should once again be recognised as the most prominent knowledge centre in the world,” PM Narendra Modi said inauguration.
