Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the largest Sanskrit universities in the world. Currently university offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in various disciplines. The university has been accredited by NAAC and recognized by UGC.

History

In 1791, during the

Benares State Benares State, earlier Benares Estate, was an estate, or hereditary jagir, comprising the family domains of the Maharaja of Benares under the Nawabs of Oudh, East India Company rule, and the British Raj that from 1911 to 1948 was recogni ...

, a resident of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, Jonathan Duncan, proposed the establishment of a Sanskrit college for the development and preservation of Sanskrit ''Vangmaya'' (eloquence) to demonstrate British support for Indian education. The initiative was sanctioned by governor general

Charles Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading Britis ...

. The first teacher of the institution was Pandit Kashinath and the governor general sanctioned a budget of 20,000 per annum. The first principal of Government Sanskrit College was

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

, followed by James R. Ballantyne, Ralph T. H. Griffith, George Thibaut,

Arthur Venis Arthur Venis (4 October 1857 – 5 June 1918) was a British educator and Sanskrit scholar. He was also a Member of the Legislative Council of the United Province. Life He was the second son of Edward John Lazarus M.D. of Calcutta and Benares; his ...

, Sir Ganganath Jha and Gopinath Kaviraj. In 1857, the college began postgraduate teaching. An examination system was adopted in 1880. In 1894, the famous Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya building was built, where thousands of manuscripts remain preserved today. These manuscripts have been edited by the principal of the college and published in book form. More than 400 books have been published in a series known as '' Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala''. In 1958, the efforts of Sampurnanand changed the status of the institution from that of a college to a Sanskrit university. In 1974, the name of the institution was formally changed to Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.

Departments

Adhunika Gyan Vijyana

* Department of Education * Department of Library Science * Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics * Department of Science * Department of Social Sciences

Philosophy

* Department of Comparative Religion and Philosophy * Department of Mimamsa * Department of Nyaya-Vaishesika * Department of Sankhya-Yoga-Tantragama * Department of Vedanta

Sahitya Sanskriti

* Department of Puranetihasa * Department of Sahitya * Department of Prachina Rajashastra-Arthashastra

Shramana Vidya

* Department of Baudha Darshana * Department of Jaina Darshana * Department of Pali and Theravada * Department of Prakrita and Jainagama * Department of Sanskrita Vidya

Veda-Vedanga

* Department of Dharma Shastra * Department of Veda * Department of Jyotisha (Astrology) * Department of Vyakarana

Research Institute

When the institution was known as Sanskrit College, all research activities were carried out by the principal. This included the work done on

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

that were kept in the Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya. After the institution became a university, all research work was supervised by the director of the Research Institute, who is also the chief editor of the famous book series Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala and the journal Sārasvatī Suṣamā. The director is responsible for overseeing all research activities within the university, and serves as its academic head. Being a director, the renowned grammarian Vagish Shastri had made valuable contributions to the Sanskrit journal Sārasvatī Suṣamā and edited numerous books in the Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala series.

Affiliation

Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya is a university in India that comprises over 600 schools and colleges. The medium of instruction in these educational institutions is Sanskrit, Hindi, and English. It is the sole university in India that boasts of such extensive affiliation throughout the country. The state wise affiliated colleges' statistics are as follows:

Notable alumni

* Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati

References

External links

{{Authority control * Sanskrit universities in India Universities and colleges in Varanasi Universities in Uttar Pradesh Educational institutions established in 1791 1791 establishments in India