Key Points
Comprehensive exploration of Nalanda's intellectual contributions worldwide
Tracing the rise and decline of a legendary learning center
Insights into Nalanda's revolutionary academic and cultural innovations
The book unravels the mystery associated with the origin, rise and decline of Nalanda Mahavihara. Through extensive research, the book explores Nalanda's contributions in fields such as science, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, art, architecture, religion, poetry, and medicine among other disciplines, mapping its global impact.
It also highlights the great luminaries who elevated its unparalleled reputation as the preeminent seat of knowledge, as well as the foreign scholars who visited the celebrated monastery.
Speaking at the launch William Dalrymple read from his book The Golden Road quoting the words of Hwui-li, the biographer of the Chinese monk Xuanzang about Nalanda --'there were thousands of Buddhist monasteries in India but this was the most magnificent and sublime of them all.'
Abhay K said that Nalanda's contributions in various fields are immense including the birth of the idea of the university itself, the use of zero as a digit, and the beginning of the book culture, among other areas.
He added that though the physical infrastructure of Nalanda was largely reduced to ruins by the early 14th century, Nalanda-like institutions were founded across the world over centuries. The latest among them is Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar which was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in 2024.
The event and discussion were attended by writers, scholars, and visitors from across the globe.
