Publications

Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, was a major Buddhist sacred site for nearly two thousand years. This paper argues that its sacred landscape was far larger than the three commonly excavated sites. Drawing on historical, archaeological, and geospatial evidence, it identifies 40 features showing that Mahābodhi extended in all directions from the Mahabodhi Temple. The study also suggests that the Lilajan’s present course, about 250 metres east of the temple, differs from the historical Nirañjanā, which lay roughly 1.5 kilometres further east. This later shift in the river cut through and divided the site, reshaping how the sacred landscape is understood and pointing to new directions for future research.

It is an immense honour and privilege to be part of this volume that is being brought out in memory of Dr. Raja Ramanna on his birth centenary. Though I am relatively young compared to the active years of Dr. Ramanna’s illustrious career, I am proud that my time at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) overlapped with the last six months of his time here. I vividly recall several occasions when we met during those six months. One particular memory that stands out is from April 2004, when I gave my first Wednesday Talk at NIAS on my master’s research, Dr. Ramanna attended the talk, and afterwards, he spoke to me personally about the talk. I remember how he would go to the dining hall early, around 12:30, and I would time my arrival to catch a moment to greet him. On the third day of doing this, he chuckled and remarked, “It amazes me how young people can feel hungry so soon!”…

Dr. Raja Ramanna, an internationally renowned nuclear physicist and founder and Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), had deep interests in Western classical music as well as in ancient Indian traditions. 

This book intends to give a systematic exposition of the validity of quantum principles in biological systems. There are two types of applications of quantum theory in physical systems — the "trivial applications" and "non-trivial applications". Since every object in this universe consists of atoms and molecules, they should be described by the laws of quantum theory — which we call trivial applications. On the other hand, there exist some systems where the observational results cannot be explained by the laws of classical physics and this requires a change of paradigm — these are known as non-trivial applications. Many authors pointed out such non-trivial applications of quantum theory to explain how some biological systems function. In this book, we review such kinds of results in a systematic manner which clearly indicates the need to change the paradigm to understand these biological systems better.