Put Nalanda ruins in UNESCO heritage list: Khurshid

Patna, Feb 12 : The ruins of the ancient

in

should be in the

list of World

sites, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Tuesday.

"The ruins should be included in the list," Khurshid told reporters in Nalanda, about 100 km from here.

Last week, Noble laureate Amartya Sen said it was "outrageous" that the Nalanda ruins was not in the heritage list.

"It is really outrageous (not to include Nalanda university in the Unesco heritage list," said Sen, who is chancellor of the varsity last week. He urged the world body to "mend its mistake" and include the historic university in its list of heritage sites.

A fifth century architectural marvel, the Nalanda University, devoted to Buddhist studies, was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

The varsity, which existed until 1197, attracted students and scholars from South Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.

In 1193, the university was ransacked by an army led by Bhaktiyar Khilji, a Turkish general of Qutb-ud-din-Aibak of the Slave Dynasty, the then ruler of northern India.

IANS