Where Reverence Became Learning

Some journeys are planned; others are gifted to us. My visit to Nalanda in September 2014 belongs to the second kind — a memory that returns to me even today with the softness of an old photograph.

It was arranged by my cousin brother, Rev. Dr. Scaria Mammoottil SJ, who was then Programme-in-Charge of the IGNOU B.Ed. Study Centre at St. Xavier’s College of Education, Patna. He turned my first visit to Patna into a treasured memory by taking me to Nalanda, the ancient seat of learning, about 90 kilometres from Patna and nearly two and a half hours away by road.

But for his thoughtful planning, I would have never visited this historical site that we had only read about in our school history books. This is not a much-known tourist spot, but a much revered and admired place for those in the field of education. In fact, I did not even know that it was so close to Patna.

On The Road From Patna

We started early morning from Patna by car. We stopped at a Jesuit house in between for breakfast. The travel was on a road winding through rural agrarian villages — where we see the true nature of India — tractors, rickshaws, two-wheelers, buses with people on the roof, thatched houses, occasional trading centres. We reached the site by 10.00 a.m.

Nalanda, maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, is not a crowded tourist spot. It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 15, 2016. There were only a few visitors that day.

The plaque in front gives a comprehensive but brief appraisal of the site. The site is spread over a one km enclosure by a red-bricked wall.

The layout is well structured. A thirty-metre passage runs north-south. On the western side are the remains of six temples and on the eastern side eleven monasteries.

Let me share a few photos of the temples.

Here are a few snaps of the monasteries

Is Nalanda the Oldest University in History?

Before writing this, I made a short re-search. Takshashila University, located 50 km west of Rawalpindi in Pakistan, is considered the world’s oldest university established in 700 BCE. The ruins of this university still bear witness to the history of higher education in the Indian subcontinent.

It was an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist educational centre. However, it was not as organized as Nalanda. It is believed that Takshashila began during the time of Bharata’s son, Taksha. It is mentioned in the Mahabharata, and the Buddhist Jataka tales also make several references to it. The university was the victim of Hephthalite invasions in the late 5th century.

Nalanda, which started in early 400 AD, was more structured as a residential university.

A Holy of Holies: Where Religion Gave Birth to Learning

Standing there, we felt like being in a holy place, an exclusive space for religion and religious learning, preparing one to be a religious. It is difficult to believe that this was a seat of learning, one of the oldest known to mankind, where various subjects like theology, grammar, logic, astronomy, metaphysics, medicine and philosophy were taught.

The region vibrates with the positivity endowed by spiritual divines like Buddha and Mahavira who meditated in this region, and with the scholarly traditions developed by great masters such as Nagarjuna, Aryabhatta, and Dharmakirti who discoursed here.

The place where we were standing — temples on one side and monasteries on the other where monks were groomed — shows how such places were seats of learning, where philosophy emerged and transpired into different branches.

This was not an exception. The oldest universities known to us had a religious background.

The Universal Pattern: Universities Born from the places of worship

The history of higher education, East or West, proves that the seat of learning had its origin in reverence for God. Reminding us of the Bible verse: _”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” – Proverbs 1:7, or as we would say, “Reverence for the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

The following universities are listed in chronological order by their founding dates:

University of al-Qarawiyyin (Morocco): Founded in 859 AD; originally started as a mosque and learning center.

University of Bologna (Italy): Founded in 1088 AD; recognized as the oldest university in Europe and the first to use the term universitas.

University of Oxford (UK): Teaching from 1096 AD; emerged as part of Western Europe’s Catholic educational system, focused on theology and canon law. Most scholars were members of the clergy.

University of Salamanca (Spain): Founded in 1134 AD, home to a cathedral school known to have existed by 1130.

University of Paris (France): Established around 1150 AD; grew directly out of the Cathedral School of Notre-Dame.

University of Cambridge (UK): Founded in 1209 as an offshoot of Oxford, near Ely Cathedral.

Only the University of Bologna had a non-ecclesiastical origin. All others show that temples, churches, mosques and monasteries became universities.

I saw this connection between religion and education still alive, reflected in the Jesuit tradition to which Fr. Scaria belongs. Today, the Society of Jesus operates one of the world’s largest educational networks, with nearly 3,500 educational institutions serving about two million students across 80 countries.

A Global Classroom

Ancient Nalanda University (5th to 12th century CE) hosted around 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers at its peak. Students and scholars travelled from across Eastern, Central and Southeast Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Persia and Greece.

People travelled to India to gain knowledge. We often emphasis on the merchants and invaders who plundered India, and we lose sight of this angle of knowledge creation and dissemination from India.

India — The Mother of Learning

Mark Twain famously wrote about India in his 1897 travel book Following the Equator :

“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.”

We can truly add — India is the mother of mothers of knowledge / learning. A fact we are reluctant to recognise and acknowledge. We do not find time and pride in our history in such details.

The Power of Royal Patronage

Nalanda was founded under the Gupta kings (c. 400–700 CE) and later sustained by the Pala rulers (c. 800–1200 CE). Around 1200 CE, it was destroyed during the invasion of Bakhtiyar Khilji. Its history illustrates a lasting lesson: the support of rulers can establish and nurture an educational institution, while hostile power can bring about its decline and destruction.

Can We Revive the Lost Glory? Yes, It Is in progress

Conception of the revival: In March 2006, while addressing a joint session of Bihar State Legislative Assembly, former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam proposed the revival of ancient Nalanda. The Parliament of India passed the Nalanda University Act, 2010 and in September 2014, the first batch of students were enrolled. The infrastructural constructions were done in  campus during 2017 to 2023.

The modern campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar, was inaugurated on June 19, 2024. Located 12 km from the historic 5th-century ruins, this international centre for higher learning spans 455 acres and operates as a net-zero green campus powered by sustainable architecture and renewable energy.

Distinguishing features of the Modern Nalanda University are:

Global Collaboration: Conceived as a partnership between India and East Asia Summit (EAS) countries — Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos-PDR, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam — to attract international students and faculty.

Core Focus Areas: Offers postgraduate and doctoral programs focusing on ecology, Buddhist studies, philosophy, comparative religion, historical studies, and international peace relations.

Nalanda is at once futuristic, for the ideals and standards of the ancient seat of learning have proven to be universal in their relevance as feasible solutions to a shared and sustainable future for all, not just Asia.

Modern Nalanda University, the result of partnership of near to 20 East Asian countries, is still in its infancy. Its impressive campus and international vision offer grounds for hope, but its true measure will lie in whether it can revive the intellectual depth, global character and enduring spirit of inquiry associated with ancient Nalanda, the second-oldest university in history. Reclaiming that legacy will require time, sustained academic excellence and a genuine commitment to becoming a meeting place for scholars and ideas from across the world.

A Pilgrimage That Changed My Perspective

• Thus, a visit which was a surprise for me but a well thought out one by my cousin became a pilgrimage.
• The bricks of Nalanda have outlived empires because they were laid not merely with mortar, but with reverence. Its classrooms produced no degrees as we know them today, but they produced masters whose wisdom still guides humanity.
• Nalanda teaches us to look at it as a compass. If India was once the mother of knowledge, attracting seekers from Greece to China, there is no reason why, with sincere patronage and a renewed reverence for learning, we cannot revive that lost glory.
• Fr. Scaria SJ reminded me of the monks of ancient Nalanda, who devoted their lives to seeking and sharing knowledge. Their tradition lives on in people like him, whose dedication to God finds expression in a lifelong commitment to education.
• After four decades in the field of education, this visit deepened my reverence for the profession and renewed my sense of its sacredness. It also humbled me, prompting me to reflect on my own contribution alongside those who have devoted their lives to education across the ages.
• This once-in-a-lifetime experience opened my eyes to the richness of our past and gave me a more hopeful vision of the future.