Not everyone is celebrating the Unesco World Heritage tag on the Nalanda University ruins - at least in Bhagalpur.
Nalanda's achievement, which came after a joint Centre-state push, has sparked protests here that both New Delhi and Patna have given the Vikramshila Mahavihara ruins a short shrift.
The ruins of Vikramshila Mahavihara, a university contemporary to Nalanda, are in Antichak village of Bhagalpur district, around 280km east of Patna and about 13km northeast of Kahalgaon, a station on the Eastern Railway's Bhagalpur-Sahebganj section.
The Vikramshila Nagrik Samity, formed to fight for the cause of Vikramshila, has lambasted the state and the central governments for what it calls prolonged apathy towards the heritage site.
"It is very unfortunate that the government has completely ignored this varsity established by Dharma Pala of the Pala dynasty between AD 769 and 800," said Samity convener N.K. Jaiswal. "It's neither a part of the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit nor have steps been taken to start the proposed central university here."
Vikramshila prospered for about four centuries before it collapsed in the beginning of the 13th century. It is known mainly through Tibetan sources, especially the writings of Taranath, Tibetan monk/historian of 16th-17th century.
Spurred by Nalanda's achievement, the Samity has decided to step up its movement. In the first phase, Samity members will observe a daylong fast on July 26 in front of the office of the Kahalgaon sub-divisional officer.
On Sunday, a huge crowd braved the rain to attend a meeting organised by the Samity at Ganguli Park here. Most speakers vehemently condemned the "prolonged neglect" towards this ancient seat of learning and said that revival of Vikramshila could open many avenues for development in Bhagalpur and nearby areas.
Raman Sinha, a senior history professor in Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, said: "Lamaism (better known as Tibetan Buddhism) originated from Vikramshila, and was transferred to Tibet by Acharya Shree Gyan Dipankara Atish, a reputed scholar at Vikramshila. The monarch of Tibet later invited him to spread Buddhism there. Today, all prosperous Buddhist countries in the world follow Lamaism, the main figure of which is the Dalai Lama. In spite of these facts, Vikramshila has not been included in the Buddha circuit."
Pawan Kumar Choudhary, an expert on Vikramshila, said: "A large number of followers of the schools of Buddhists considered Vikramshila as a most pious place like Bodhgaya but owing to inaccessibility, they can hardly reach here. We are not jealous of the development of Nalanda but want to know the reason of apathy towards a place that figures as more important in the history of Buddhism."
Choudhary said there is no proper road to reach Vikramshila from Kahalgaon. "Projecting this ancient site on the tourist map can change the fate of Bhagalpur like that of Bodhgaya with inflow of foreign tourists. Besides, arrival of foreigners can revive the dying centuries-old silk industry here," he said.
Neeraj Gupta, a Kahalgaon-based social worker, hit out at the government over the proposed but delayed central varsity here in the name of Vikramshila.
"The Centre announced the setting up of the central varsity and allotted Rs 500 crore for it. But without taking any positive measure, the Union minister of state for human resource development, Upendra Kushwaha, and state education minister Ashok Choudhary have been busy levelling allegations and counter-allegations against each other's departments," he said. "It was the responsibility of the state government to arrange the required land for the varsity but nothing has been done so far. On the other hand, the Centre should take initiative and cooperate with Bihar so that the proposed varsity can start soon."
Samity secretary Abhimanyu Prasad Choudhary said the organisation was mobilising for a mass public movement. "After the July 26 hunger strike, we will chalk out strategies for the cause of this ancient seat of learning," he said.
