Inaugurated by His Holiness, the first Dalai Lama Chair in Nalanda Studies was established at Goa University in December 2019 and has since been graced with multiple programmes, lectures and events.
Pune-based MIT World Peace University followed next, setting up The Dalai Lama Chair for Indic Studies in October 2020 with Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya (UNESCO Chair for Peace and Intercultural Understanding) at the helm.
Most recently, the Dalai Lama Chair for Nalanda Studies was set up at Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai, and is already evolving programmes on interfaith understanding, secular ethics and peace studies, encouraging exploration of Indian philosophy through Tibetan Buddhist texts.
The Chairs are aligned with His Holiness’ fourth commitment towards preserving and promoting the Nalanda tradition. Inspired by the Nalanda masters’ example of using human intelligence to the fullest by employing rigorous reason and logic, the scholars adopt a strictly secular approach to address contemporary predicaments. The Foundation’s Fellows have previously given lectures, and continued their teaching engagements at the Chairs from November 2022.
