Regional Literature, National Stage
Bajjika and Bodo, Maithili and Mizo: NLF puts the literature of undivided Bihar and the North-East on the same stage as Delhi and Mumbai, because a regional voice was never a smaller one.
LEGACY,LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
NLF 2027
Nalanda LittFest
NLF
2026-27
Nalanda LittFest
World's ancient seat of learning, reopened as a living conversation.
30+
Sessions
100+
Speakers & Guests
12+
Languages
NLF
2027
Nalanda LittFest
World's ancient seat of learning, reopened as a living conversation.
30+
Sessions
100+
Speakers & Guests
12+
Languages
Upcoming Events
The conversation starts long before Nalanda does. Writers and scholars from Asia, Africa, and the Global South meet city by city, on diaspora, technology, and the environment, before the main festival calls everyone home.
View Full CalendarUpcoming5 Dec 2026
Kochi
Register NowUpcoming30 Jan 2027
Bodhgaya
Register NowUpcoming13 March 2027
Mumbai
Register NowWhy join Nalanda Literature Festival?
A Platform for New Ideas
Literary legends, first-time authors, and diaspora writers share the same programme. Nalanda never asked for credentials at its gates, only curiosity.
Reviving Nalanda's Legacy
Walk the land of Mahavir and Buddha, where a thousand years of debate still echo, and where that habit of inquiry meets today's literature, science, and culture.
Explore the World Between the Lines and Rhythms
NLF gathers disciplines, generations, cultures, and ways of thinking under one roof: the same fusion that once made Nalanda the world's first true university.
Legacy
The living inheritance of Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain thought, carried forward not as relics, but through archives, institutions, and conversations still unfinished.
Language
A meeting of tongues and scripts: Pali and Sanskrit alongside the living languages of Bihar and the North-East, translated so none of them go quiet.
Literature
New writing in conversation with the old: poetry, fiction, and scholarship from across regions and generations, read aloud, argued over, and occasionally rewritten on the spot.
Inspiring a cultural renaissance rooted in the ancient ethos of Nalanda, a global centre of learning.
Vision Statement
A beacon of cultural renaissance rooted in Nalanda's ancient ethos, celebrating the prolificacy of languages, literature, and global cultural collaboration, and instilling a literary-laced cultural consciousness in society.
Diaspora Focus
Routes to Roots: celebrating the literary and cultural connections of Indian-origin communities across eighteen countries, from Mauritius and Fiji to Suriname and Guyana, through dialogue on migration, memory, and belonging.
A nationwide journey to Nalanda
Before the festival gathers at Rajgir, the conversation goes on tour. Each Nalanda Dialogue is a city-sized gathering in its own right: its own programme, its own voice, its own microsite, building toward the main event.
NALANDA DIALOGUE
Delhi
Visit microsite
NALANDA DIALOGUE
Srinagar
Visit microsite
NALANDA DIALOGUE
Kochi
Upcoming · 5 Dec 2026
NALANDA DIALOGUE
Bodhgaya
Upcoming · 30 Jan 2027
Frequently Asked Questions
Have a Question?
Register through the official website by filling out the form. Entry is free but mandatory for all sessions to ensure a seat.
A series of one-day events across different cities leads up to the main festival at Rajgir in October 2027. See the schedule page for dates.
A lineup of eminent authors, poets, and thinkers from across India and the globe. See the Speakers page for the full list.
The Nalanda Dialogues are single-city gatherings that travel the country, each with its own programme and microsite. They culminate in the main festival at Rajgir in October 2027.
Visit the volunteer registration page to apply and join the festival team.
More questions? Write to us at [email protected]