Nava NalandaMahavihara, Nalanda celebrated 65th Foundation Anniversary

Nava NalandaMahavihara, Nalanda Deemed University, Nalanda celebrated its glorious 65th foundation Anniversary on November 20, 2016, in which Shri Ramnath Kovind, the Governor of Bihar was the Chief Guest. Prof. Lokesh Chandra, a renowned scholar of Indology and Buddhism and the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi was the Guest of Honour, who delivered the Special lecture on “Genesis of NalandaMahavihara (University)”. The Vice Chancellor Shri M. L. Srivastava distributed certificates of excellence to the students for achieving ranks in the various events of the university like sports, speech completions and regular examinations. On this occasion two books one, written by Dr. Shriknat Singh, titled “Interface Between Buddhism & English Literature” and two, Dr. H.K. Tiwari, titled “NaiKavita : VividhParidrishya ” were released by the Governor of Bihar. Inaugural programmewas followed by a cultural programme, performed by the students of the Mahavihara.

It is relevant to mention here that Nava NalandaMahavihara has been founded way back in 1951 with the inspiration of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the First President of India under the initiation of Ven. BhikkhuJagadishKashyapa, one of the three revivalist of Buddhism in Modern India, in order to revive the lost glory of the ancient University of Nalanda. The publication of 42 volumes of PaliTripitak in Devanagari script has been one of achievements of this university, which has caught attention of scholars worldwide. The same has been ordered for reprint by its present Vice-Chancellor Shri M. L. Srivastava. The Mahavihara is functioning presently as a Deemed University under Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India since the year 2006. At present the University has eight Post Graduate and Research Departments in the subjects of Pali, Philosophy, Ancient History, Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Tibetan Studies, Buddhist Studies and Chinese Studies. Students of various South and Southeast Asian studies like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos and Nepal are studying living in various campus hostels apart from Indians.

The University is split into three campuses- Academic, Residential and Cultural. The cultural campus known as Xuanzang Memorial premise includes a Museum Memorial in the name of this Chinese pilgrim built with Sino-Indian collaborative efforts, a Theme Park, Vipassana Meditation complex, Amphi- theatre and Sanskritik Gram Museum apart from many others. The campus attracts visitors from various parts of the globe. The Mahavihara also has a rich library with seventy thousand entries including rare manuscripts preserved in air conditioned separate location.

Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)