New Delhi: The Centre has selected a 200-acre plot of land in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar for the re-establishment of Vikramshila University, destroyed by the invaders in the medieval era.
The selected land in the Parshuram Chak area of Bhagalpur is near the railway station and the excavation site, media reports said.
“The Vice-Chancellor of Gaya University had submitted a report to the government, following which land has been selected. Land acquisition will begin soon,” Subrata Kumar Sen, District Magistrate, said.
The then President Pranab Mukherjee had visited ruins of the famous university in 2014 and assured that he would take up the matter with the Centre. Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in 2015, announced the re-establishment of Vikramshila as a Central University. The Centre has earmarked an Rs.500 crore budget for the educational institute.
Vikramshila University was built by Emperor Dharmapala of the Pala Dynasty in the Antichak village of Bhagalpur district, Bihar, after the decline of Nalanda University. Later, invaders had destroyed both the universities.
Vikramshila had emerged as one of the three prime Buddhist learning centres alongside Nalanda and Odantapuri.
(Avya Mathur)
