Prime Minister Narendra Modi ceremoniously unveiled a contemporary expanse of Nalanda College throughout the precincts of Rajgir, Bihar, on the midweek. Previous this, PM Modi traversed the vestiges of the traditional Nalanda, a UNESCO World Heritage Website, positioned in Rajgir on the midweek.
Addressing the inaugural gathering, Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated his administration’s ‘dedication’ to elevating the nation’s tertiary schooling system in direction of a extra progressive and research-oriented trajectory. Modi, through the dedication of the modern Nalanda College enclave herein, enjoined college students to perpetually harbor curiosity and fortitude.
Nalanda epitomizes India’s scholastic legacy and dynamic cross-cultural exchanges. It signifies not solely a renaissance of India’s historic epoch, however interconnects the legacies of myriad nations to this locus, he expressed. “Our administration endeavors to propel the nation’s tertiary schooling system in direction of a extra progressive and research-focused avenue. I possess unwavering religion in our youth to imagine management roles on a worldwide scale in instances to come back,” Modi conveyed.
The premier expressed his aspiration for India to emerge as a worldwide nucleus for erudition and enlightenment. On common, one instructional establishment has been established within the nation per week over the previous decade, Modi appended. Antecedent to the inauguration of the contemporary expanse, the PM toured the Nalanda Mahavihara’, a UNESCO World Heritage Website adjoining to the college.
Constituted by the Nalanda College Act in 2010, the educational establishment commenced operations in 2014. The traditional Nalanda College, which thrived for the reason that fifth century, enticed students from throughout the globe. It flourished for eight centuries earlier than succumbing to invasions within the twelfth century, as per scholarly assessments.
The remnants of historic Nalanda encapsulate the archaeological vestiges of a monastic and pedagogic institution. It encompasses stupas, sanctuaries, viharas (dwelling and academic edifices), and important artifacts crafted in stucco, stone, and metallic.
Nalanda stands distinguished as probably the most vintage college of the Indian subcontinent. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the contemporary enclave of Nalanda College in Bihar’s Rajgir. Elaborate safety protocols have been carried out in anticipation of the PM’s go to to Nalanda.
The PM was additionally apprised of the traditional vestiges by Gautami Bhattacharya, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Patna Circle. Antecedent to his go to to Nalanda right now, the PM inscribed in a put up on X, “It is a momentous day for our academic area. The novel campus of Nalanda College shall be inaugurated at Rajgir. Nalanda shares a profound nexus with our illustrious previous. This college is poised to considerably cater to the academic requisites of the youth.”
Nalanda College in historic context
India boasted this millennial instructional establishment, the world’s oldest, that includes luminaries like Aryabhata earlier than it succumbed to international incursions. Nestled within the historic realm of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) and based within the fifth century CE, Nalanda was located proximate to Rajagriha or up to date Rajgir.
The college lay in shut proximity to Pataliputra, or present-day Patna. Revered because the world’s inaugural residential college, it attracted savants from numerous corners, encompassing China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.
An academic establishment par excellence
A various array of disciplines flourished at Nalanda, spanning arithmetic, philosophy, astronomy, and ayurveda. The college attained apogee beneath the aegis of the Pala dynasty through the eighth and ninth centuries CE.
Nalanda’s foremost distinction lies in its seminal contributions to arithmetic and astronomy. Aryabhata, the progenitor of Indian arithmetic and the progenitor of zero, numbered among the many esteemed pedagogues at Nalanda through the sixth century CE.
Potential students underwent rigorous scrutiny, and people admitted obtained tutelage from Buddhist erudites comparable to Dharmapala and Silabhadra. The repository of the college, referred to as ‘Dharma Gunj’ or the ‘Mountain of Reality’, harbored 9 million handwritten palm-leaf manuscripts, thereby constituting the globe’s most opulent trove of Buddhist knowledge.
Within the 1190s, probably the most distinguished and antiquated establishment fell prey to conflagration wrought by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turko-Afghan navy commander, as a catastrophic blaze reportedly ravaged it for 3 lunar cycles, lowering arguably probably the most invaluable compendium of Buddhist erudition to ash particles.
Eminence of the novel period Nalanda
To resurrect its legacy, the proposition to re-establish Nalanda College was espoused by former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006. This imaginative and prescient gained momentum with the enactment of the Nalanda College Invoice in 2010, culminating in its graduation in 2014 from a provisional web site proximate to Rajgir. Former president Pranab Mukherjee laid the cornerstone for the everlasting enclave in 2016 at Pilkhi village, Rajgir. Building was initiated in 2017, culminating within the inauguration of the novel campus right now.