Managing the Buddha at Nālandā China, India, and the Control of Tibetan Buddhism: A Comparative Case Study

Can Tibetan Buddhism point the way toward a revitalized and productive relationship between China, India, and the Tibetan diaspora? Using as a case study the recent pan-Asian revival in India of an ancient Buddhist teaching university called Nālandā, this paper traces the contours of the Chinese-Indian-Tibetan politico-religious triangle, and compares the approaches that China and India take in influencing religion in general, and Tibetans' brand of Buddhism in particular. It also considers whether we are approaching, through the return of an institution of Buddhist learning that disappeared from the historic record in the 13th century, a convergence point on one of East Asia's most contested geopolitical concerns. I conclude that although a path toward greater Sino-Indian-Tibetan religious accommodation exists, and there is precedence for such an evolution, at the moment, the Sino-Indian Nālandā revival framework is being used more as a tool for transnational "governmentality" than an opportunity to engage with the Tibetan "religious field."