Addressing a mammoth public meeting in Bhagalpur, Bihar, in February 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a historic declaration, which demonstrated his earnest zeal in preserving and rekindling the heritage – spiritual and intellectual – and legacy associated with Lord Buddha and with Buddhism in India.

He told the gathering that Bhagalpur held “immense historical and cultural significance" because during the era of Vikramshila University, it was a global centre of learning. “We have already embarked on a mission to revive the ancient glory of Nalanda University, aligning it with modern Bharat. Now, following in Nalanda’s footsteps, a Central University is also being established in Vikramshila. The Central government will soon initiate work on this ambitious project…"

Within less than a fortnight into his third term as the Prime Minister, Modi inaugurated the re-established Nalanda University, once the lighthouse of knowledge for civilisations of the ancient world.

In a historic address, while inaugurating Nalanda University, PM Modi had made a thought-provoking point. He had said that edifices and centres of knowledge and wisdom such as Nalanda University represent a thought, a vision and are connecting heritage bridges. “Nalanda is not just a revival of Bharat’s past. It is connected to the heritage of many countries in the world, especially in Asia…Nalanda is not just a name. Nalanda is an identity, a respect. Nalanda is a value, a mantra, a pride, a saga. Nalanda is the declaration of this truth that even though books may burn in the flames, the flames cannot extinguish knowledge. The destruction of Nalanda filled Bharat with darkness. Now, its restoration is about to mark the beginning of Bharat’s golden era."

Both Nalanda and Vikramasila symbolised civilisational India as a knowledge society. J Takakasu’s translations of I-tsing’s travelogue, A Record of the Buddhist Religion as........

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