NALANDA UNIVERSITY-A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES

摘要

I was in Bologna, Italy about thirty years back for attending a conference in the historic University of Bologna. Historic because this was the oldest university in Europe. Some participants took pride in proclaiming that this was the oldest university in the world. The statement is true only if we paraphrase the statement by saying that this was the oldest 'functioning' university. I pointed out that NalandaUniversity in present India is probably the oldest university of the world which incidentally died (was destroyed) in the 1190s. The University taught students from all over India and abroad for more than 600 years (according to conservative estimate), within about hundred and fifty years of the establishment of the University of Bologna in 1038 AD and shortly after the foundation of Oxford University in 1167. Amartya Sen mentioned in his essay on Nalanda University that the University was built in the fifth century AD while according to UNESCO, Nalanda was built in the third century AD. UNESCO reports "Nalanda stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian subcontinent and engaged in the organized transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years". UNESCO declared the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara University as a World Heritage Site in July this year.