New Delhi, March 24 Buddhist scholars discussed the rise and fall of the ancient Nalanda University, while a documentary film narrated the intellectual environment the institution created as part of a day-long conference here on Tuesday.
The conference, titled ‘Contribution of Nalanda Mahavihara in the Dissemination of Buddha Dhamma’, was held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre (DAIC), organized by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in collaboration with DAIC.
The inaugural ceremony began with a visit to an exhibition titled 'Guru Padmasambhava – Sacred Pilgrimage Sites in India', according to an official statement.
A documentary, 'Nalanda - A Journey Through Time', was also screened on the occasion.
It highlighted Magadha's cultural milieu as crucial in shaping Nalanda as an integrated knowledge system, fostering a holistic environment where monastic life, scholarship, pilgrimage, trade, and local society mutually reinforced each other, the statement said.
The ruins of the ancient university, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located in Bihar's Nalanda district.
In a special address, Shartse Khensur Jangchup Choeden Rinpoche, Secretary General, IBC, outlined that the Buddha himself explicitly advised the wise, “not to accept his words out of mere faith, but to examine them closely, as a goldsmith would test gold”.
Nalanda took the spirit of inquiry to new levels of sophistication, systematizing critical reflection into rigorous disciplines of grammar, logic, medicine, fine arts, and the inner science of the mind, the statement said.
The 14th Dalai Lama repeatedly emphasizes that it is precisely this analytical, evidence-based Nalanda heritage that unites reason, contemplative practice, and ethics, which resonate deeply with the modern world and its quest to understand consciousness and cultivate genuine human flourishing, it said.
One of the thematic sessions reflected on the very name ‘Nalanda’, evoking its associations with abundant giving and the joy of knowledge.
The session also highlighted Nalanda art, which developed a distinctive visual language that both reflected and supported its intellectual and spiritual life, the statement said.
"Attention was drawn to the sophisticated use of brick, stucco, stone, and metal, through which artists gave form to Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and complex Vajrayana deities, as well as to narratives and decorative motifs woven into the very fabric of the ‘viharas’ and temples," it said.