Speaker
Prof. Siddharth Singh
Vice-Chancellor, Nava Nalanda Mahavihara
Prof. Siddharth Singh is Vice-Chancellor of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (Deemed University), under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In his substantive position he is Senior Professor in the Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
He served as a diplomat and Director of the Indian Cultural Centre at the Embassy of India, Tokyo, from 2018 to 2022, where he worked extensively to promote Indian culture in Japan and strengthen India–Japan cultural diplomacy. He has received the Japan Foundation Fellowship (2003–04), the Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship (2011–12), and the Vajrayana Vyas President Award (2005).
He has published four books: Saddhammasangaho: History of Buddhism till the 13th Century (Motilal Banarsidass), Jinacarita: Biography of the Buddha (Pilgrims Publishing House), Zen Bauddha Dharma-Sangeet (Sahitya Bhandar, Allahabad), and Remembering the Legend: Kosetsu Nosu (Mahabodhi Society of India). He has published more than eighty papers in Hindi, English, and Japanese on various aspects of Indian culture and Buddhism, and has lectured and presented papers in India and in countries including the United States, Japan, China, Sweden, Estonia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Nepal.