By Kalinga Seneviratne
This article is the 27th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.
NALANDA, India (IDN) – It is believed that more than 2500 years ago Gauthama Buddha chose to preach in Pali rather than Sanskrit because the latter was the language of the elite while Pali was spoken by the masses. Today nobody speaks Pali in India, but, the Buddhist scriptures that were originally written in Pali are still used to educate monks as well as in Buddhist chantings.
When the Nalanda education tradition was revived in 1951 with the Indian government setting up the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (NNM), Pali was given the prime focus in its teachings program. But today, the university is struggling to be relevant especially after Pali was abolished three years ago as part of the curriculum for the Indian Civil Service examination.