Patna, (Bihar Times): Under an Indo-Chinese
Friendship Project, there is a plan to undertake excavation work beneath the site
of Nalanda University, the pet project of the former President, A P J Abdul Kalam.
This project is to be taken up during the Indo-Chinese Friendship Year for Tourism
and Culture. The Archaeological Survey of India will begin this work in February
next.
According to the seventh century Chinese traveller, Xuanzang, in its heydays
the University was spread in an area of over 16 sq km. Dr Ravindra Panth, Director
of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, deemed a university told a newspaper recently that
“today we know only 10 per
cent of Nalanda. We have to find the remaining
90 per cent of the campus. We have to properly map it to rebuild it. Right now
these mounds are like a jigsaw puzzle.”
Nalanda and its major gateway
to the campus, its eight halls, richly adorned towers and deep translucent ponds
were explained in great details in Xuanzang’s writings.
Xuanzang,
who came to India in 630 AD spent five years here and took back with him 657 volumes
of sacred texts. He translated and interpreted many of the earlier writings, which
are still available in China.
China has now agreed to present to the
resurrected Nalanda University Xuanzang’s Chinese translations and some
original volumes that he had taken with him.
According to Dr Panth the
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) would provide satellite imagery of the
area. The Indo-Chinese collaboration to revive Nalanda began in the 1950s, but
could not go further because of the boundary dispute.
Comments...
I am glad to see this news. This is a great
initiative by a intellectual society of “BHARAT”. It should have been
taken earlier but it’s never too late to start. This reflects human mind.
I have always believed that, “history is the mirror of society” in
which we can see our face in three dimension. By the help of history, we can correct
our mistake and improve our quality. Human is a social animal. History is a subject
which differentiates humans from animal. It is a subject that makes “human”
out of an animal.
I suggest to also excavate “Bikramshila
University” too. This is another big and equally important contemporary
international university. Two are in Bihar itself reflect the intellectual society
of Bihar (INDIA). When compared to present society, we can see a silver line in
a cloud.
I appreciate this project a lot and look forward
to getting more news about it’s progress.
