{"id":41253,"date":"2024-06-20T11:14:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T05:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=41253"},"modified":"2025-10-13T12:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:23:27","slug":"revival-of-ancient-nalanda-mahavihara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/revival-of-ancient-nalanda-mahavihara\/","title":{"rendered":"Revival of Ancient Nalanda Mahavihara"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>The Ancient Nalanda Mahavihara<\/li>\n<li>Revival of Nalanda University<\/li>\n<li>Features of the New Nalanda University Campus<\/li>\n<li>Highlights of the PM&#8217;s Address at the New Nalanda University Inauguration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar.<\/li>\n<li>The new campus is near the ancient ruins of Nalanda University, which was established through the Nalanda University Act 2010, enacted following a decision made at the 2nd East Asia Summit in the Philippines in 2007.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Ancient Nalanda Mahavihara:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist mahavihara<\/strong> (great monastery) in ancient and medieval <strong>Magadha <\/strong>(modern-day Bihar), near the city of Rajagriha (now Rajgir) and about 90 kms southeast of Pataliputra (now Patna).<\/li>\n<li><strong>It was established by Kumargupta I<\/strong> &#8211; the ruler of Gupta Empire (c. 3rd to 6th century CE), and is considered to be<strong> among the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It played a vital role<\/strong> in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the &#8220;Golden Age of India&#8221; by scholars.<\/li>\n<li>The chronicles of seventh century Chinese traveller <strong>Hsuan Tsang<\/strong> provide the most detailed description of ancient Nalanda.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After Guptas<\/strong>, Nalanda continued to thrive with the support of the rulers of the <strong>Pala Empire<\/strong> and may have been attacked (in 1190s) and <strong>damaged by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji <\/strong>&#8211; a Turko-Afghan military general.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After being lost for six centuries, <\/strong>the university was rediscovered in 1812 by Scottish surveyor Francis Buchanan-Hamilton.<\/li>\n<li>Later (in 1861), it was officially identified as the ancient university by <strong>Sir Alexander Cunningham.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The current site of Nalanda is a <strong>UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/strong> and the Government of India enacted a law in 2010 to revive the famous university<\/li>\n<li><strong>The contemporary Nalanda University at Rajgir<\/strong> has been listed as an &#8220;<strong>Institute of National Importance<\/strong>&#8221; by the Government of India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Revival of Nalanda University:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In a bid to revive its legacy, the idea to re-establish Nalanda University was proposed by former president <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/apj-abdul-kalam\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dr APJ Abdul Kalam<\/a><strong> in 2006.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>In 2007<\/strong>, the proposal to re-establish Nalanda was endorsed at the East Asia Summit in Mandaue, Philippines, and was reiterated in the East Asia Summit of 2009, in Hua Hin, Thailand.<\/li>\n<li>This vision gained momentum with the passing of the Nalanda University Bill in 2010 in the Indian Parliament,<strong> leading to its operational launch in 2014 <\/strong>from a temporary location near Rajgir.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Former president Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation<\/strong> stone for the permanent campus in 2016 at Pilkhi village, Rajgir.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Construction commenced in 2017 <\/strong>and the university became fully functional by 2022, culminating in the inauguration of the new campus recently.<\/li>\n<li>In total, <strong>17 countries other than India<\/strong>, including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, etc &#8211; have helped set up the university.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Features of the New Nalanda University Campus:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The architecture of the university,<\/strong> situated on a sprawling 455 acres of land, fuses both the modern and ancient styles.<\/li>\n<li>The new campus integrates eco-friendly architecture, ensuring a net-zero carbon footprint.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The university currently operates six schools<\/strong>, covering Buddhist studies, historical studies, ecology, sustainable development, languages, literature, and international relations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Additionally, it hosts four centres<\/strong> specialising in Bay of Bengal Studies, Indo-Persian Studies, Conflict Resolution, and a Common Archival Resource Center.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It offers a range of programs including<\/strong> postgraduate and doctoral research courses, short-term certificate courses, and scholarships for international students, reflecting its commitment to global academic excellence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Highlights of the PM&#8217;s Address at the New Nalanda University Inauguration:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Nalanda University is a proclamation of the fact that <strong>knowledge cannot be destroyed by fire.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Nalanda University would add a new dimension<\/strong> to the idea of world brotherhood and become the identity of India\u2019s development journey.<\/li>\n<li>The Renaissance of Nalanda will tell the world about India\u2019s capacity and will help India become <strong>a global hub for knowledge and education.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>History was proof that all developed countries became economic and cultural leaders only after they made a mark in the field of education.<\/li>\n<li><strong>India currently has 23 IITs, 21 IIMs<\/strong> and has witnessed the setting up of one university every week in the last 10 years, along with establishment of an industrial training institute every 10 days.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major reforms are going on in the education sector, <\/strong>which includes the National Education Policy 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Q.1. Why is the period during the Gupta empire known as a golden age?\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>The Gupta Age (from the mid-3rd century CE to mid-6th century CE) is called the golden age because of the advancements in art, literature, religion, medicine, and science. Many later Indian societies were inspired by the Gupta.<\/p>\n<h2>Q.2. What is the East Asia Summit (EAS)?<\/h2>\n<p>The EAS is a regional forum held annually (first summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2005) by leaders of the 18 nations (ASEAN + Six + Russia and the United States). It plays an important role in the regional architecture of Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/narendra-modi-in-bihar-live-updates-pm-to-inaugurate-new-campus-of-nalanda-university-today-june-19-101718756157512.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Narendra Modi in Bihar highlights: \u2018Nalanda is an identity, an honour, \u2019 says PM<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/patna\/pm-modi-nalanda-university-identity-of-indias-development-journey-9403164\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/as-a-new-campus-rises-at-an-ancient-site-the-story-of-nalanda-9403090\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar, near the ancient ruins of Nalanda University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":41254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}