In order to provide education in Buddhist philosophies, culture and art and to promote research in different aspects of Buddhism, preserve ancient Buddhist manuscripts, digitize ancient Buddhist text preserved in the languages of Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese and other Asian languages through the system of a modern university, the Ministry of Tourism has established one institute namely “Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies” (CIHCS), Dahung, Arunachal Pradesh and taken over the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda (NNM), Bihar; Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, Varanasi and Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS), Leh, UT of Ladakh, which have been granted Deemed University Status by UGC.
In addition to the aforesaid four Autonomous Buddhist Educational Institutes, Ministry of Culture also provides annual grants-in-aid to the following six Grantee Bodies for promoting Buddhist Culture and Art: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamshala; Tibet House, New Delhi; Centre for Buddhist Cultural Studies, Tawang Monastery, Arunachal Pradesh; Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Sikkim; International Buddhist Confederation and GRL Monastic School, Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh
This information was given by the Minister of State (I/c) of Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
