With Sanskrit medium, Veda lessons, new Karnataka varsity aspires to be modern-day Takshashila

Vishnugupta Vishwa Vidyapeetha in Gokarna, to be formally inaugurated on 26 April, will offer two-year courses and focus on providing integrated Indian education with a touch of the modern

The main administrative building of the Vishnugupta Vishwa Vidyapeetha | Photo courtesy Vishnugupta Vishwa VidyaPeetha on Twitter

Bengaluru: A private university, Vishnugupta Vishwa Vidyapeetha, which claims to be modelled on the lines of the ancient university of Takshashila, is coming up in Karnataka’s temple town Gokarna.

The university at Ashoke, located on a peak, will focus on providing integrated Indian education with a touch of the modern.

Imparting online classes for also a year now, the varsity will be formally inaugurated on 26 April.

Explaining the concept, Raghaveshwara Bharathi of the Ramachandrapura mutt, which has set up the university, told ThePrint that students will be imparted knowledge on ancient India, the four Vedas, the four Upavedas, the six Vedangas, epics, feasible art forms from the 64 ancient arts, as well as of agriculture, modern languages and self-defence.

“There is a need to emphasise the rediscovery of ancient Indian knowledge and other aspects of Indian culture that have vanished today. For instance, many believe the Samaveda has a thousand segments. But only three exist as of today. There is an urgent need to rediscover, learn and preserve our ancient knowledge for future generations,” Bharathi Swami told ThePrint.

Inspired by the past

According to university officials, the Vishnugupta Vishwa Vidyapeetha aspires to become the modern-day Takshashila. While Sanskrit will be the primary medium of instruction, other languages such as Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, languages in which ancient texts have been written, will also be used for teaching.

The Vidyapeetha will be offering a two-year course similar to the two-year pre-university courses available in government and private colleges. Admission would be on the basis of an entrance test, open to people of all age, caste and religion.

While the Vidyapeetha will begin with seven departments teaching combined courses on the various Shastras and Vedas, it eventually hopes to grow to an institution with 80 departments and 280 courses.

Asked about the relevance of such courses and teachings today, Bharathi Swami replied through an example and said if a student took up a course such as Vaastushastra at the university, and methodically studied and passed the exam, he would be in great demand in society.

The private venture was first announced last year at a function, which was reported to have been attended by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and several Karnataka MLAs, among others.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)