Nalanda was one of the greatest universities of the world.
From the 5th Century onwards, having such a very big university
where students had come from different parts of the world.
Nalanda has a very old Buddhist tradition.
It says that it was a huge place.
The range of the university said to be 10km.
Eight centuries after the destruction of ancient Nalanda,
[we are] re-establishing Nalanda in its second avatar.
The first 'modern university' is known as Bologna University in Italy,
[founded in] 10th - 11th Century. Oxford University in 12th Century,
Cambridge University in 13th Century.
Just see, 700 years before that one,
you had an international university of greater magnitude here in India.
Nalanda can be termed as the epitome of culture,
a soul of our ancient academic.
One of the most important curriculums that were taught at Nalanda
was Chikitsa Vidya, meaning medical education.
There might have been a hustle and bustle of people in the whole area
because every day there would be hundreds of classes for people.
Various courses were being taught in the university.
We had logic, we had astronomy,
we had astrology and all other subjects also were being taught.
From the descriptions of Xuanzang, they speak about the huge terrace,
four storey monasteries, nine storey astronomical observatory
and also about the great university's magnificent library.
There were 1,500 teachers. They were all very prominent teachers.
There were students from Korea, China, Japan and many other countries.
India lost everything; India lost its soul when Nalanda was destroyed.
Great and valuable books were there on various aspects of life.
All of them were completely destroyed by the people.
Archaeological proof is there.
After the destruction of Nalanda, Buddhism declined from India
and people forgot about Nalanda University and about Buddha also.
This is the biggest ever excavated university in the whole world.
It was in 1811, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton,
for the first time he saw the remains of the university
but he didn't know that it was a university.
It had been completely under earth and a village had been settled on the top.
On the basis of Xuanzang's travelogue,
[Alexander] Cunningham started to excavate this place.
So the first excavation was in 1872 and that was only a very small excavation
and then from 1915 onwards up to 1937 the whole temple complex was excavated.
The whole monastic portion was excavated.
Then from 1974 up to 1984 also, a small type of excavation was taken up.
During my tenure, I have tried to excavate some
of the ruins just close to temple number three.
Archaeological finding of that area.
The famous archaeologist Percy Brown created conjectural drawings temple number three.
This is very close to the original one.
A number of inscriptions - inscriptions of the kings,
inscription of certain donations - have also been excavated from there.
And these inscriptions throw remarkable light about the history.
Innumerable sculptures were excavated from the whole Nalanda.
The sculptures of Lord Buddha, in various forms.
These are collections of manuscripts, rare manuscripts.
Many of the manuscripts of Nalanda were taken to Tibet
and they translated into the Tibetan language.
Some of the manuscripts were donated by His Holiness Dalai Lama
and some are from various other monasteries.
It had a history of 800 years of continuous education and
then a gap of 800 years, after which Nalanda was created or reestablished.
I am trying to repurpose Nalanda,
redefine it in today's context, basing it on the ancient Nalanda.
Nalanda University houses students from 31 countries
so it's truly a cultural confluence that happens here.
This is the administrative block, wing one.
We have another wing there. The construction we started in 2017.
We have about over 80 structures that are ready.
These are all academic, administrative,
examination centres, student facilities, classrooms, faculty rooms,
mini auditorium, all these are ready. We are complete in every respect,
it's only the residences that are under construction. 70% done.
I think we are already a university of the future
because we are looking at the multipolar world.
After various upheavals and vicissitudes of history,
near about almost 800 years,
the new international university would be again jumping
into the whole fray, almost like a phoenix.
It was earlier completely destroyed,
but out of those ashes, now the new university will be coming
and that would give the message of peace and nonviolence to the entire globe.