RENO, Nev. (July 18, 2016) — The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee is to be commended for inscribing Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) Archaeological Site in Bihar (India) on the World Heritage List, according to the Universal Society of Hinduism.
Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement Monday from Nevada, said that ancient Nalanda University reportedly was the most prestigious and largest educational institution of its time; seat of renowned teachers; enrolled thousands of students regularly; provided instruction in logic, medicine, philosophy, grammar and housed an extensive library. It should not have taken so many years for this Committee, whose first session was held in Paris in 1977, to recognize this unique treasure of the world in the form of inscription, which finally came on July 15 in Istanbul in its 40th session. Nalanda University should have been inscribed much earlier, Zed added.
Committee described this Nalanda University Archaeological Site as: It comprises the archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal. Nalanda stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent. It engaged in the organized transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years.
