Satellite imagery could be put to use for exploration in and around the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University, with experts feeling that the remains of the Buddhist seat of learning already excavated are just the tip of the iceberg.
Union minister for tourism and culture Ambika Soni, who visited Nalanda earlier this week as part of a tour to oversee the arrangements on the Buddhist tourism circuit of Bodh Gaya-Rajgir-Nalanda in Bihar, is keen that satellite imagery be used for exploration purposes in the area.
While the current extent of the more than 2500-year-old Nalanda ruins is 1.6 square kilometre, the oldest university in the world is believed to have been spread over a much bigger area.
Soni said she will take up with Union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal the possibility of conducting satellite mapping of Nalanda to check if there are any more remains of the ancient university that can be excavated.
"Even looking at the remains that have already been excavated, the impression one gets is that it has to be a much larger complex," she said.
Soni said she will also talk to Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy so that the hi-tech sensing mapping equipment available in the state can be used to find out what may still lie underneath.
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