The Melbourne Global Centre – Delhi recently hosted a special session on writer-diplomat Abhay K.'s book Nalanda: How it Changed the World. The discussion explored Nalanda Mahavihara’s historical role as a global hub of knowledge. Abhay K. emphasized the university’s wide-ranging academic disciplines, from astronomy and mathematics to medicine, philosophy, and poetry, noting how its interdisciplinary learning, diverse faculty, and merit-based scholarships offer a model for contemporary education.

During the event, Abhay K. remarked, “We aimed to highlight Nalanda’s contributions, its origins, and its decline. It is essential to understand Nalanda’s full narrative rather than fragments. This is precisely why I wrote the book. This conversation at the Melbourne Global Centre celebrates Nalanda’s international and universal outlook. Today, participants from Australia and India have come together to discuss the world’s first university, Nalanda.”

The session included students and officials from the Australia India Institute. Lisa Singh, CEO of the Australia India Institute–Delhi, commented, “This has been an important day for our institute and a personal privilege to engage with Abhay K., an esteemed author and poet. Experiencing his narrative style interwoven with poetry through this book has been truly enlightening.”

Abhay K. also highlighted the revival of Nalanda University, whose new Rajgir campus was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024. He traced the spread of Buddhist thought from Nalanda to countries like China and Mongolia, emphasizing its strategic location and global influence. The event reaffirmed Nalanda’s legacy as a world-renowned centre of learning and its lasting impact on modern education and thought.