BHU becomes the first university to include a course on Hindu Dharma
{The introduction of this new course makes BHU, the first university in India to offer a course on Hindu Dharma.}
The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi has started a new postgraduate course – masters in Hindu Studies. The introduction of this new course makes BHU, the first university in India to offer a course on Hindu Dharma.
Banaras Hindu University has started the course of MA Hindu Studies. According to BHU, this is the first course among the postgraduate courses offered by a university in the country. Inaugurating the course, Vice Chancellor Vijay Kumar Shukla said that it is a subject programme, which has been prepared in line with the National Policy on Education, 2020.
MA Hindu Studies will be conducted by the Center for India Studies in collaboration with the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Sanskrit and Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archeology under the Faculty of Arts. Through this course the curriculum world will be exposed to many unknown aspects of Hinduism. Along with this, it will help to take its teachings to more people.
Masters in Hindu studies is an interdisciplinary program, which is introduced in line with the National Education Policy, 2020. The program will be offered by the Bharat Adhyayan Kendra, in collaboration with the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Sanskrit and Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, under the faculty of Arts.
Moreover, the university will also teach Ramayan and Mahabharat under the course. Apart from it, students will also be taught the principles and philosophies of Swami Vivekananda. The Sanskrit department will discuss practical aspects of scriptures, Vedas, and ancient records through mantras.Smart classes will also be provided to students. An entrance examination for the course will be held in October this year and it will test the aspirants on scriptures and dharma.
The course is of four semesters with 16 papers. “It took more than a century to begin such a course on Hindu Dharma in the university after its establishment in 1914,” said Coordinator of the Bharat Adhyayan Kendra Prof. Sadashiv Kumar Dwivedi.The course aims to help students and the world made aware of several unknown aspects and facts about the Hindu religion and help in taking its teachings to more peoples . so far, a total of 45 students, including a foreign student, have joined the first batch.
According to information received from the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Vijay Kumar Shukla, the university is starting a two-year Hinduism course with 40 seats. This will be the first degree course of Hinduism in the country. 45 students have taken admission in the first batch of this course. One of them is a foreign student. Professor Rakesh Upadhyay said that curriculum is important for inculcating eternal life values. At the same time, Shatabdi President Professor Rakesh Upadhyay said that this course is important for the creation of eternal life values. BHU had already talked about starting this course.
According to the university, the course will be conducted by BHU’s Philosophy department. It will delve into ancient architecture, ancient trading systems, aspects of science, the Hindu emperors, weapons, among other aspects.