Revival of Nalanda University

Rohit Kumar Gupta

Revival of Nalanda University

Authors
Rohit Kumar Gupta

Abstract
Eight hundred years after the destruction of Nalanda, former president of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, while addressing the Bihar state legislative assembly, in March 2006 mooted the idea of reviving the university. Almost simultaneously, a proposal termed the ‘Nalanda Proposal’ was forwarded to government of India by Singapore. This proposal sought the re-establishment of a University like Nalanda which would once again be the focal point of Asia. The state government of Bihar quickly adopted the visionary idea and consulted the government of India on the way ahead. It also began its search for a suitable location for the new Nalanda University. It identified and acquired 450 acres of land for the university in Rajgir, Bihar. The establishment of this university was thus marked by a high degree of co-operation between the state of Bihar and the government of India.

Since the hallmark of the ancient Nalanda was its internationalism, the government of India decided to share this proposal with the leaders of the East Asia Summit (‘EAS’). The proposal was first shared with the sixteen members’ states of the EAS at the cebu summit in Philippines in January 02007. The member states welcomed the regional initiative for the revival of Nalanda University. At the fourth Summit held in October 2009, at Hua Hin, Thailand members supported the establishment of the Nalanda University and encouraged regional networking and collaboration between the University and existing centre’s of excellence in East Asia.

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