Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidhyapeetha

About Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidhyapeetha

Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, a University established under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 is a premier institution in the field of higher learning in Sanskrit studies, Traditional Shastras and Pedagogy. It is funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development through University Grants Commission, New Delhi. The Vidyapeetha has a long history in the service of Sanskrit education.

The vidyapeetha was established at Tirupati (A.P.) in 1961 by the Govt. of India on the recommendations of the Sanskrit Commission (1957) as an autonomous body under the name of Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha Tirupati Society. Dr. S.Radhakrishnan, the then Vice President of India laid the foundation stone of the vidyapeetha on 4th January 1962. The basic objective of setting up the Vidyapeetha is to impart and improve Sanskrit pedagogy, to accelerate the pace of higher Sanskrit learning and to combine the traditional Sanskrit education with modern scientific research.

Later, Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati came under the administrative control of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education in April 1971. In the year 1987 the Vidyapeetha was declared as a Deemed University by the Government of India, considering its service to the cause of Sanskrit Education, achievements in research and publications and general progress in the past 25 years. it was formally inaugurated by the President of India Sri. R.Venkataraman on 26th August, 1989 considering its achievements and potential for research in Traditional Shastras, the University was given the status of Center of Excellence in Traditional Shastras during the X plan period.

Profile of the Vidyapeetha

On the recommendations of the Central Sanskrit Commission appointed by the Government of India during 1950s, a Central Sanskrit Institute was established at Tirupati in 1961 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in partial fulfillment of the recommendations, for the preservation and propagation of Traditional Sanskrit learning combining it with the modern methods of research. The Government of India constituted an autonomous registered body called ‘Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha Tirupati Society’ for the administration of the institution. The foundation stone for the Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha was laid by the then Vice-President of India, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan on 4th January, 1962. About forty two acres of land at the foot of the Seven Hills, Tirumala was leased out by the T.T.D. Trust, then headed by Executive Officer, Dr.C.Anna Rao along with a munificient donation of Rs.10 lakhs towards construction of buildings.

The Vidyapeetha Society has had a galaxy of successive chairmen who were well known public figures – Sri Patanjali Sastry, former Chief Justice of India being the first, followed by Prof.V.Raghavan, a reputed Indologist and Sri M.Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, former Speaker of Lok Sabha. Dr. B.R. Sharma was the Founder, and also acted as the Director from 1962 to 1970. Later the post of Director was changed into that of Principal. Sri Venkata Raghavacharya, Dr.Mandan Mishra, Dr.R.Karunakaran, Dr. M.D. Balasubramanyam and Prof. N.S. Ramanuja Tatacharya served the institution in various capacities. Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha came under the aegis of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan– an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education in April, 1971. Despite the challenges of the modern world, it has grown from strength to strength as a premier Institution for Sanskrit learning and research in India. During the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1987, Sri P.V.Narasimha Rao, the then Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India announced the decision of the Government to elevate its status to that of a Deemed University.

The Vidyapeetha was declared as a Deemed to be a University on the recommendations of the U.G.C under Section 3 of UGC Act by the Government of India in its Gazette dated 16 – 11- 1987, No. F.9-2/85 U-3. The Deemed University was formally inaugurated by the then President of India Sri R. Venkataraman on 26th August, 1989. The Vidyapeetha started functioning as a Deemed University from the academic year 1991 – 92. Since then we have had three eminent Chancellors – M.M.Sri Pattabhirama Sastri,Prof.Ramaranjan Mukherjee and Dr.V.R.Panchamukhi(two terms), and the Vice-Chancellors were Prof.N.S.Ramanuja Tatacharya, Prof.S.B.Raghunathacharya and Prof.D.Prahladachar. Now Prof. Harekrishna Sathapathy took over as Vice-Chancellor.

The Vidyapeetha is now headed by Dr.J.B.Patnaik serving as the Chancellor and Prof. Harekrishna Sathapathy as the Vice-Chancellor of the Vidyapeetha.

Courses

The Vidyapeetha offers traditional courses in Sahitya, Vyakarana, Jyotisha, Nyaya, Advaita Vedanta, Vishistadvaita Vedanta, lDvaita Vedanta, Agama, Mimamsa, Sankhya Yoga etc.. along with modern subjects like Computer Science, Mathematics, History etc.

The Professional courses offered in the University are Siksha Sastri (B.Ed) and Siksha Acharya (M.Ed.) monitored by National Council for Teaching Education (NCTE). Other courses leading to Diploma, P.G.Diploma and Research Degrees are also offered under various faculties.