PM seeks European support for Nalanda university

SINGAPORE — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday sought European support for a proposed internationally-backed university at Nalanda, the ancient Buddhist site of learning in India.

Speaking at an exhibition on ‘The Nalanda Trail’ here, the prime minister said the university would focus on becoming a centre for excellence for research and teaching with an emphasis on postgraduate studies.

"It will have departments for philosophy and Buddhist studies, regional history, business and management studies, international relations and peace studies and study of languages," he said.

"It will be established as an international university through an international treaty."

Welcoming leaders of the European Union to the exhibition, the prime minister sought support from the grouping "in making the initiative on Nalanda a success".

The exhibition, which unveils the spread of Buddhism from India to China and Southeast Asia and the role played by Nalanda in Bihar, opened on November 2 at the Asian Civilisations Museum. It ends on March 23 next year.

The ancient university at Nalanda drew students from all over the world for more than 700 years from the fifth century onwards. At its peak the campus had dormitories for over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers, from Turkey and Persia to Indonesia, China and Japan.

By special permission of the Indian government, the exhibition features bone relics from the only known archaeological find that can be linked directly to Buddha.

'Peace Bells' at Nalanda, Rajgir soon

PATNA: The Light of Buddhadharma Foundation International (LBDFI), a US-based organisation, has decided to install two "Peace Bells" in Nalanda and Rajgir, alongside its on-going project to install a peace bell at Vaishali.

This will complete the installation of Peace Bells at all the eight major sites of Buddhist pilgrimage in the country.

A two-member team of the foundation led by Wangmo Wadmodixcy held a detailed meeting with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) superintending archaeologist P K Mishra here on Tuesday. The team has submitted a detailed proposal to the ASI which would be finally approved by Union culture minister Ambika Soni, Mishra told TOI on Tuesday.

Bells are an important symbol in Buddhist culture, and these bells, weighing over 1.5 tonnes each, are the largest bronze bells to be erected in India and act as important landmark at these locations.

Plans are afoot to collaborate with the ASI in creating "Peace Gardens" at these pilgrimage sites containing gold plated plaques describing their importance and the "sutras" taught there.

The Peace Bells are cast in Germany and imported into India via the port of Kolkata. LBDFI will transport and install them at its own cost, and meet the costs of any landscaping, planting and furnishing required to create the "Peace Gardens" planned at these important locations.

The foundation will also contribute to the maintenance of these facilities so that they provide important benefits to visitors of all castes, creeds and races in future years, said an official.

LBDFI-India also sought collaboration with the ASI to address this problem as part of its overall aim to promote the Buddha Dharma within India. Each site will also receive other facilities, such as toilet and shower, and rest houses for pilgrims staffed with the Indian bhikkhus .

200 villages around Nalanda varsity to be developed

Nearly 200 villages around the proposed Nalanda International University in Bihar will be developed soon. It will change the socio-economic conditions of thousands of families, eagerly waiting for development since the last several decades.

This was disclosed by none other than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Friday.

"Nearly 50 villages around the proposed Nalanda International University have already been marked for the economic development and work is going on to identify other villages," Nitish said.

The Patna-based K P Jaiswal Reserach Institute was assigned the job by the state government early this year for identification of villages that were linked with the ancient Nalanda university.

Experts said that 200 villages used to be attached to the ancient Nalanda university.

Official sources in the Chief Minister's Office told rediff.com that Nitish Kumar is taking keen interest to develop villages around the proposed university to establish linkages like the ancient Nalanda university.

Nalanda, about 100 km from Patna, is the famous Buddhist centre of learning in Bihar. Lord Buddha is known to have visited the town several times. So did Lord Mahavira, the founder of Jainisim.

Nalanda is also the home district of Nitish Kumar. He won the last Lok Sabha election in 2004 from Nalanda seat.

"The state government has chalked out a special plan to develop these villages," an official said.

All the basic amenities including, schools, roads, safe drinking water and electricity will be provided in these villages and job opportunities will also be created for the villagers.

The government will take help of international funding agencies and Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Mauritius for the development of these villages around the proposed university.

According to official sources, the villages will be developed in such a way to ensure the daily requirements of the students of the proposed residential university spread in nearly 500 acres of land.

The state government has already acquired the land.

"It will provide the best package for rehabilitation of all displaced farmers for acquiring the land for the university," officials said.

The Bihar Assembly unanimously approved the University of Nalanda Bill 2007, in March 2007 for the setting up of an international university. The bill stated that the international university will strive to create a world free of war, terror and violence.

The government had appointed former president A P J Abdul Kalam as the first visitor to the proposed university.

The first meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group, headed by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen to oversee the opening of the university was held in Singapore in July. Three more meetings will be held soon.

The idea of the university was first mooted in the late 1990s, but it was Kalam's initiative in 2006 that gave shape to the project.

Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama had offered to donate artifacts of Tibetan Buddhism to the proposed international university.

The detail project report was prepared by the Educational Consultants of India, a consulting company.

The DPR states that in its first phase the university will offer only post-graduate, research, doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. However, the DPR is also in favour of offering undergraduate courses in specific areas.

The university will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. An internationally known scholar will be the chancellor of the university.

Some 1,137 students from both India and abroad will be enrolled in the first year. By the fifth year, the number will go up to 4,530.

In the second phase, the enrolment of students will increase to 5,812.

The university, on a sprawling 500 acre campus, will have a 1:10 faculty-student ratio.

The 46 international faculty members will receive an estimated $36,000 per annum as salaries.

The excavated remains at Nalanda are protected as a site of national importance. The university, a 5th century architectural marvel, was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

Nalanda is the Sanskrit name for "giver of knowledge".

Nalanda University, which existed until 1197 AD, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey, besides being a pedestal of higher education in India.

Though it was devoted to Buddhist studies, it also trained students in subjects like fine arts, medicine, mathematics.

Nalanda Int’l University: A commendable initiative

Bihar government recently presented a Bill for the revival of Nalanda International University. Japan and Singapore support the initiative and have pledged to invest about $100 million. Will this University emerge as a centre for renaissance of the East?

IF THE POLITICAL agenda of our HRD minister is fulfilled, then he should try and facilitate the dream project of Nitish Kumar, the low key Chief Minister of Bihar. After the idea seeded by President Kalam, he worked tirelessly and the idea is now very near realisation. Japan, Singapore and other countries are very excited about the project but our minister has kept mum. We all know he will not remain at the helm for long, so it will be good for him also to do something constructive for the country. Is he listening?

Much... much before Oxford, Harvard, Yale and other premier educational institutions came into existence, Nalanda was acclaimed as the greatest University of the world. Founded in 427AD and devoted to Buddhist Studies, it also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of warfare. The university was an architectural and environmental masterpiece; eight separate compounds; 10 temples; meditation halls; classrooms; lakes and parks; nine-story library; dormitories for students, perhaps the first educational institution, housing nearly 10,000 students and 2,000 professors. It attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. Unfortunately, it ceased to exist when Muslim invaders burnt it in 1197 AD.

Nalanda can once again be a link in region’s underlying cultural heritage and can restore many of the peaceful links amongst people and cultures that once existed. Asia can rediscover its ancient roots, using this university as a springboard.The original Nalanda was the first to conduct rigorous entrance exams. It had world-class professors who did groundbreaking work in mathematical theorems and astronomy; produced pre-eminent interpreters and translators of religious scriptures in many languages.

The new Nalanda should try to recapture the global connection of the old one. It could set a benchmark for mixing nationalities and cultures, for injecting energy and direction into global subjects and for nurturing true international leaders. It could perform a vital role consistent with its original ethos - to be an institution devoted to religious reconciliation on a global scale.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and scholars like Lord Meghanand Desai are part of an international group of consultants for setting up the university. Japan and Singapore are in the forefront of the initiative and have already pledged to invest about $100 million to begin with. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has offered to donate Buddhist artifacts. Will this University emerge as a centre for renaissance of the East?

In its first phase, the University will offer only post-graduate, research, doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. The university will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. An internationally known scholar will be the Chancellor of the University and 1,137 students from both India and abroad will be enrolled in the first year. By the fifth year, the number will go up to 4,530 and in the second phase, student enrolment will increase to 5,812.The University, spread over 500 acres, will have a 1:10 faculty-student ratio. The architectural remains of the ancient Nalanda University are all set to become the second World Heritage site in Bihar after the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya.

India has approached UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to turn Nalanda University into a World Heritage site.

The proposed University will be fully residential like the ancient Nalanda and in the first phase it will have seven different schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics. The University will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. Nalanda - the "giver of knowledge" today can perform a vital role consistent with its original ethos and become an institution devoted to religious reconciliation on a global scale. Can Asia pull this off, for the benefit of the world?

China offers to develop Buddhist spots in Bihar

Nalanda, Feb 12: Showing special interest in the development of Buddhist spots in Bihar, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaxing today offered monetary support in promoting the land of Buddha. Addressing the inaugural function of Xuan Zang Memorial Hall, constructed to mark the historic visit of the Chinese scholar of Buddhist theology in the seventh century Xuan Zang, Zhaxing said China had already prepared a project for the development of Buddhist spots in Bihar and would invest here accordingly. He said if the Bihar government provides China with land for the project, the country would execute its schemes on the holy land of Buddha. Expressing pleasure at the construction of Xuan Zang Memorial Hall, Zhaxing said it would further strengthen Sino-Indian relation. In a reminiscent mood the Foreign Minister said China had handed over the urn of Xuan Zang, the symbol of the cordial Sino-Indian relations, to the Bihar government fifty years ago and now it was great pride for china that the urn was placed in the Memorial Hall. Enthused with the Chinese offer for investment in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assured to provide land for the projects and maintained that the government would extend logistic support to the Chinese government.