Sanskrit Gyan- A college’s endeavor to preserve Indian culture

In this modern era where technology has taken over everything, there lies a College in remotest areas of Raipur since last 51 years which is offering free of cost Sanskrit degree to its students.

• Rameshwar Gahira Guru Sanskrit Mahavidyala, situated in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh (Raipur) is affiliated with Ravi Shankar Shukla University since 2001. It provides under-graduation as well as post-graduation courses to nearly 300 students in Sanskrit literature combined with the ancient wisdom of Ramayana.
• Students of this colleges have become renowned Sanskrit and Hindi professors in various colleges. Some of them have also joined Indian army after passing out from this college.
• Focusing on human values such as discipline, general etiquette, it also implants a sense of nature-love among students. The college has a beautiful ambiance inside as well as outside in the campus. It has a lush green site and eco-friendly surroundings.
• Students wear white uniforms and maintain a proper dress code. Boys wear dhoti along with long shirts and girls wear saari. Girls also tie sash among their waist. They are taught to how to give respect to others. On entering any of the classrooms one can see them standing on their feet followed by clasping their hands and greeting with respect.

In an interview Dr. Jagdish Pathak (principal of the college) said: "With a view to developing qualities of virtue, character, and patriotism among the young generation of uncivilized local tribes like Pahari Korwa and others, Guru Gahira Maharaj synthesized the ideals of our ancient culture and established this college in 1965."

To understand the Indian pre-modern era technologies one should know Sanskrit in order to understand the ancient books written in that language. Though there are western translations available but they lose the essence behind our culture.

"Indian students are migrating to other countries such as Germany for pursuing Sanskrit courses. Government needs to stop this kind of brain drain. We as Indians should take initiatives to protect and embrace our ancient cultures. Efforts of these kinds should be encouraged and should be identified on a global platform", adds Pathak.

Related articles:

• 'Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court' by Audrey Truschke
• Goa aptly to introduce B.A in the Sanskrit language
• Sanskrit is the new craze among Mumbaikars

– Prepared by Pritam. Pritam is pursuing engineering and a writer at NewsGram. Twitter: @pritam_gogreen