Why in News:

• A process is under way to translate and publish hundreds of original Buddhist manuscripts from Nalanda and Vikramshila, saved during the burning of the ancient universities in the 12th and 13th centuries

About the university

• The Nalanda Mahavihara site is in the State of Bihar, in north-eastern India.
• It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal.
• It engaged in the organized transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years.
• During the reign of Gupta monarch Sakraditya(Kumaragupta I), the historic Nalanda University was founded in 427 AD. Mahayana monks Asanga and Vasubandhu are said to have found Nalanda in 5th century AD.
• The university was largely focused on Buddhist studies, but it also offered courses in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics, grammar, logic, epistemology, science and the art of combat.
• Despite the fact that it covered all Buddhist sects, Mahayana Buddhism was the dominant focus.
• It drew experts and students from all over the world, with some coming all the way from Tibet, China, Korea, and Central Asia.
• Nagarjuna (Madhyamika Shunyavad) and Aryabhatta, the astronomer, are two of Nalanda’s most famous scholars.
• The medium of instruction was given in Sanskrit.
• The university reached its zenith during the reign of Harshavardhana and the Pala emperors.
• Hiuen Tsang(Xuanzang), a Chinese traveller, visited Nalanda University during King Harsha’s reign and gave a thorough account of the university.
• Itsing, a Chinese scholar, stated that Nalanda housed 2,000 students and was supported by funds from 200 villages.
• The institution was a focus of academic activity until 1197 AD, when Turkish ruler Qutbuddin Aibak’s general Bakhtiyar Khilji destroyed it.
• The ancient university has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • To read about world heritage sites : https://officerspulse.com/unesco-world-heritage-sites/

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1502/

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/process-to-translate-publish-original-buddhist-manuscripts-from-nalanda-vikramshila-under-way-bihar-minister/article65236913.ece

https://www.aicte-india.org/downloads/ancient.pdf