Nalanda to give out postgrad degrees for
the first time in 800 years
EILEEN NG JULY 23,
2016
India’s Nalanda
University will etch a milestone in its annals on Aug 27 when the
institute of higher learning holds a convocation ceremony for its
students for the first time in 800 years.
It
had already made history when it opened its doors to students in
2014, with Singapore playing a huge part in its revival and
continuing to work closely with the institution today.
The
ceremony, which will be attended by Indian President Pranab
Mukherjee, will see five graduates from the School of Historical
Studies and eight from the School of Ecology and Environment
Studies receiving their postgraduate degrees.
“This is
historically the first batch of students graduating from Nalanda
after a gap of 800 years,” said Professor Anjana Sharma, Nalanda
University’s former founding dean for academic planning to TODAY in
an interview.
“It
will be very moving for us. We aim to empower our students to
discover within themselves their latent capabilities and help them
find the capabilities, nurture, polish and make them come to
fruition. They will be the best ambassadors for the
university.”
Nalanda
University was one of the world’s oldest universities and it is
believed to even predate Al Azhar University in Egypt, Italy’s
University of Bologna and Oxford University in the United
Kingdom.
Construction of
the ancient seat of learning, which was also a Buddhist monastery,
began in 5th century AD. It came to an end in the 12th century when
it was destroyed in 1193AD by the invading Turkish army. The
university in the state of Bihar, India, was revived in 2010 after
it was first mooted at the 2006 East Asia Summit. It received its
first batch of students in 2014.
The
new Nalanda, a postgraduate research-intensive university, now sits
on a 184ha site bordering the Rajgir hills, about 16km from the
site of the old Nalanda ruins.
Nalanda also
looks forward to receiving its first intake for the School of
Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions next month,
with about 40 to 50 students. The school aims to foster critical
thinking and explore the wider cultural and historical context of
Buddhism in relation to other philosophical and religious
traditions.
“This is an
inter-disciplinary and multi-faith school so there is a wider
social historical context which will be touched on,” said Prof
Anjana.
SINGAPORE
CONNECTIONS
Singapore has
been at the forefront of Nalanda’s revival, and Prof Anjana said
Singapore had floated the Nalanda proposal in 2006 and shared it
with the Indian government because the city state “recognises the
pan Asianism” of the university. The proposal was then taken up by
the central government of New Delhi and, in a rare partnership,
both the central and state governments worked together to make the
revival of Nalanda a reality.
Concrete steps
towards the realisation of Nalanda were taken in 2009 when Mr
George Yeo, former foreign minister of Singapore, and Nobel
Laureate Prof Amartya Sen inaugurated the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre
(NSC) at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. The goal was
to develop the “Nalanda idea” of building for contemporary Asia an
appreciation of Asian achievements and mutual learning.
Professor Wang
Gungwu, an eminent historian and chairman of the Iseas-Yusof Ishak
Institute, and Mr Yeo, serve as founding members of Nalanda
University’s governing board. The latter is currently chancellor of
the university, having succeeded Prof Amartya in 2015. The Buddhist
Lodge of Singapore has also contributed S$10 million for the design
and construction of the university’s library.
Prof
Anjana said renowned Singaporean architect-planner Dr Liu Thai-Ker
is designing the library, working closely with Indian counterpart
Rajeev Kathpalia and Vastu Shilpa Consultants to ensure the library
reflects the ethos of Nalanda, which stressed man living in harmony
with man and nature.
On
top of that, there are robust faculty and student exchanges between
the university and Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“We
began and continue to build (our relationship) brick by brick.
There will be a system in place to ensure a long relationship that
will always be maintained,” she said.
Impressed with
Singapore’s conservation plans, Prof Anjana said there are plans to
work with the Republic’s museums and heritage centres. “The way
heritage conservation and management is done in Singapore is,
frankly, quite remarkable, with great attention to people and their
sensitivities and we would like to work with these organisations,”
she added.