Vadnagar, Buddhist Site in Gujarat

108 km from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Vadnagar has antiquities of centuries. Its importance as a thriving Buddhist centre since 2nd century AD finds mention in the travelogue of the great Chinese traveler and Buddhist monk, Hiuen-Tsang, also known as Xuanzang, who visited the place in the 7th Century AD. 

According to Hiuen-Tsang, there were ten monasteries in Vadnagar when he visited the place. 

Going by the description of Hiuen-Tsang who refers to Vadnagar as Anandpur in his accounts, the town was home to around 1,000 Buddhist monks of Sammitiya School’ .

The recent discovery of the remains of a Buddhist monastery in Vadnagar has reinforced the claim of Hiuen-Tsang. In 1992, a Bodhisattva statue dating back to 2nd century AD was excavated from Vadnagar. This Bodhisattva image seems to be produced at the Mathura school of art in the 2nd -4rth century and was brought here to be placed at the monastery. All these factors have led to the emergence of Vadnagar as an important Buddhist destination in Gujarat. 

In 2020, a Buddhist Chaitya has been found during excavations at Vadnagar.   

The glory of Champanagar

Champa or Champanagar in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar is a site of great significance for the Buddhists.

The place is deeply associated with the life of the Buddha. It was one of the six greatest cities during the time of the Buddha This can be gauged form Buddha’s disciple Ananda’s regret that his master should have died in either of the cities of Sravasti, Champa, Rajagraha, Saketa, Kausambi and Varanasi not in a small place like Kusinagar. 

In the times of the Buddha Champa served as the capital of the little kingdom of Anga which was annexed to the Magadhan empire by the 6th century BC Magadhan ruler Bimbisara. During those times Champa was a famous port city which was of substantial commercial significance. 

The Buddha paid several visits to Champanagar where he preached his several important discourses including Sonadanda Sutta and Kandaraka Sutta. Dasuttara sutta was delivered by his famous disciple Sariputta here in presence of the Buddha himslef.

Champanagar finds mention in the accounts of Chinese traveler Fa-hsien who came to India in the fifth century AD. According to him, the Buddhist monasteries in Champanagar were full of spiritual activities.

World’s First Living Heritage University

Founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1921,Visva-Bharati University  in West Bengal's Shantiniketan town is all set to become the world's first "living heritage university". The university will soon get the ‘heritage’ tag from UNESCO to become the world’s first living heritage university.

Generally heritage tag is accorded to a dead monument. It is for the first time in the world that a living university which is functioning is going to receive the heritage tag from UNESCO.

Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to win the Nobel literature prize, was proponent of open-air education and introduced that system at the university, which is still continuing.