【季冰按】今天在FT中文网上看到一条令人高兴的消息，希望与对佛教有兴趣的朋友们一起分享。

根据历史记载，公元五、六世纪，那烂佗寺最鼎盛的时候，共拥有大小寺庙数百个，来自全世界的超过1万名佛教学者在这里讲学、求学和修行……其盛况令人至今想象起来都感到神往。以后如果那烂佗真的得到重建的话，一定要找时间去那里朝圣。

2010年08月04日 05:48 AM 

英国《金融时报》 詹姆斯•拉蒙特 新德里报道

原文链接：http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001033919

那烂佗大学(Nalanda，季冰注：这是FT的原文，正确的梵文单词应该是Nalãnda)位于印度贫困的比哈尔邦(Bihar)境内，是世界上最古老的学府之一。在被毁坏800多年后，这所学府将得到重建，从而实现印度、新加坡、中国和日本等国学者的梦想。

印度国会本周将审议一项允许外国合作者协助重建这座佛学中心的法案。相关计划是在原大学的红砖建筑遗址附近重建，距离比哈尔邦首府巴特那(Patna) 55英里。

重建那烂佗计划得到了国际知名学者、诺贝尔经济学奖获得者阿玛蒂亚•森(Amartya Sen)的支持。森教授形容，那烂佗是“世界历史上的最高学术成就之一”。他表示，重建那烂佗将促成印度学术的复兴，将吸引来自亚洲各地的学生。

巴特那的国会上院议员N•K•辛格(N.K. Singh)表示，那烂佗大学始建于公元3世纪，鼎盛时曾招收来自亚洲各地的上万名学生。1193年突厥兵入侵，洗劫了那烂佗，并烧毁了它那著名的图书馆。而当时欧洲一些最古老的学府，如博洛尼亚大学(Bologna)和巴黎大学(Paris)等，才开始走向兴盛。

重建那烂佗计划得到了印度外交部和新加坡政府高层的支持，有关方面计划吸引中国大陆及其它地区的学生。

手握重权的印度计划委员会承诺提供资金支持，比哈尔邦政府则愿意馈赠500英亩土地，这些也表明了以印度教人口为主的印度大力推广佛教文化的决心。

无宗教信仰的森教授表示，这座佛教基地将建立一支涵盖哲学、数学、医学和信息技术等各领域学识的教师队伍，2年内将可开始运营。

他邀请宗教机构和富人等私人捐赠者支持重建那烂佗项目，在印度这个国家，高等教育历来由公共部门负责。

不过，森教授拒绝对重建那烂佗大学的成本进行估计。

SCHOLARS RESURRECT ANCIENT INDIAN UNIVERSITY

By James Lamont in New Delhi

One of the world's oldest universities – Nalanda, in the impoverished Indian state of Bihar – is to be refounded more than 800 years after it was destroyed, fulfilling the dreams of scholars from India, Singapore, China, and Japan.

India's parliament will this week consider legislation allowing foreign partners to help recreate the ancient Buddhist centre of learning close to the red-brick ruins of the original university, 55 miles from Patna, Bihar's capital.

The initiative has been championed by Amartya Sen, the world-renowned scholar and Nobel laureate for economics, who described Nalanda as “one of the highest intellectual achievements in the history of the world”. Prof Sen said Nalanda's recreation would lead to a renaissance of Indian learning that would draw students from all over the region.

Founded in the third century AD, according to N.K. Singh, a Patna-based member of parliament's upper house, Nalanda university at its height accommodated 10,000 students from all over Asia. It was sacked by invading Turkic forces, and its famous library burned down in 1193, at a time when some of Europe's oldest academic institutions, such as Bologna and Paris, were just beginning to flourish.

The project has the backing of India's foreign ministry and senior members of the Singaporean government, and plans to attract students from mainland China, among other countries.

Pledges of financial support by India's powerful planning commission and a gift of 500 acres of land by the state government of Bihar also show a high level of commitment to promoting Buddhist culture by Hindu-majority India.

Prof Sen, who is irreligious, said the Buddhist foundation would create international faculties across the full spectrum of learning, including philosophy, mathematics, medicine and information technology, and would be able to open facilities within two years.

He invited private donors, including religious organisations and wealthy individuals, to back the project in a country where tertiary education has traditionally been the preserve of the public sector.

However, Prof Sen declined to estimate how much it would cost to set up the university.