Nalanda example of India influencing world: Ex-Minister

Tribune News Service

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi February 24

Former Union Minister Karan Singh on Saturday said it was a misconception that only Buddhism had spread from India to other countries as even Hinduism had made its way outside.

Speaking at the conference on ‘Asia on the Move: Histories of Mobility and the Making of Asia’ held at India International Centre here, Singh said Nalanda University was the prime example of India influencing the world for seven centuries.

“The university produced scholars, which is why travellers visited Nalanda and took away manuscripts. We lost many manuscripts and had to get them translated from Chinese,” he said.

Citing the influence of Hinduism on the world, Singh said the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia stood as a testimony. “The Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia is the biggest Hindu temple in the world. It needs to be seen. There are several Hindu temples in Indonesia. India has had the bloodiest chapters in history due to the Islamic invasion wherein temples were destroyed. However, Indonesia, being a Muslim-dominant country, maintained and repaired the Hindu temple. Luckily, the Islam that went there was not as bloodthirsty as the one that invaded India,” Singh said.

He said the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, understood the importance of cordial relations between India and other Asian countries, hence, he organised the first Asian Relations Conference in 1946 before independence.

He said India’s contribution to the world in the field of music and art was huge. “We have International Day of Yoga, when every country performs yoga and I must thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for it,” he said.

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