Sanskrit revival

Sanskrit revival is the accumulation of attempts at reviving the Sanskrit language that have been undertaken.

History

Ancient Sanskrit on Hemp based Paper. Hemp Fiber was commonly used in the production of paper from 200 BCE to the Late 1800's.

In 1891 there was organized activity among the Theosophists in India promoting and participating in the revival of Sanskrit.[1] In 1894 the American Asiatic and Sanskrit Revival Society was established.[2]

In the Republic of India Sanskrit is included in the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. Many organizations, like the Samskrta Bharati, are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The "All-India Sanskrit Festival" (since 2002) holds composition contests. The 1991 Indian census reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit.[3]

The state of Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to declare Sanskrit as an official language. The Central Board of Secondary Education in India has made Sanskrit a third language in the schools it governs (though it is an option for a school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language). In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, affiliated to the ICSE board too, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi. An option between Sanskrit and a local language as a second language exists for grades 9 and 10.

All India Radio transmits news bulletins in Sanskrit twice a day across the nation. Besides, Sanskrit learning programmes also feature on the list of most of the AIR broadcasting centres.

Work of Samskrita Bharati

Samskrita Bharati is an organization working for Sanskrit revival. It is a tax exempt nonprofit organization with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The International Centre, “Aksharam,” a complex located in Bangalore, India, is its international centre. It houses a research wing, a library, audio-visual lab, and staff quarters. It also has several state-units spread across the country both in the US and India. The US chapter is a registered nonprofit tax-exempt organization with its headquarters in San Jose, California.

Samskrita Bharati functions as an umbrella organization for various organizations working for promotion of Samskrita.

The West

Being the liturgical language of Hindus, it is used during worship in Hindu temples in the West. It is taught in many South Asian studies/linguistics departments in universities across the West. Also, Sanskrit revival attempts are underway amongst expatriate Hindu populations in the west.[4] It is also popular amongst the many practitioners of yoga in the West, who find the language useful in understanding the Yoga Sutra .

Sanskrit villages

Sanskrit is spoken in around 4 villages in India. In Madhya Pradesh, it is spoken in Jihri.

Mattur village

The Mattur village in central Karnataka, Shimoga district claims to have native speakers of Sanskrit among its population. Historically the village was given by king Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire to Vedic scholars and their families. People in his kingdom spoke Kannada and Telugu.[5]

Sanskrit literature movement

There is Sanskrit literature movement to revive Sanskrit.[6]

Modern Sanskrit universities

In the last few years sporadic efforts have been made to form Sanskrit universities in India. The list of such universities is given below in chronological order:

Sr

No

 Year

Est.

 Name Location State Specialization
1 1791 Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Varnasi Uttar Pradesh
2 1961 Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University Darbhanga Bihar
3 1962 Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha Tirupati Andhra Pradesh
4 1962 Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha New Delhi Central Govt
5 1970 Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan New Delhi Central Govt Multi Campus
6 1981 Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidayalaya Puri Orissa
7 1993 Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kalady Kerala
8 1997 Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University Ramtek, (Nagpur) Maharashtra
9 2001 Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University Jaipur Rajasthan
10 2005 Shree Somnath Sanskrit University Somnath-Veraval,

Junagarh

 Gujarat
11 2005 Sri Venkateswara Vedic University Tirupati,

Junagarh

 Andhra Pradesh
12 2008 Maharishi Panini Sanskrit Evam Vedic Vishwavidyalaya Ujjain Madhya Pradesh
13 2018 Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University, Mundri[7][8] Kaithal Haryana

Sanskrit revival by states of India

Andra Pradesh

Andra Pradesh has several dozens Sanskrit institutes, including the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (deemed university) at Tirupati.[9]

Assam and Northeast India

Assam and Northeast India, where Sanskrit has reached by the late vedic period, has Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti which was established in 1012 to research Sanskrit, Ananda Ram Baruah institute of languages publishes Sanskrit manuscripts, and Assam Sanskrit Board is responsible for researching and preserving Sanskrit documents and manuscripts.[10]

Bihar

Bihar has at several dozen Sanskrit institutes, including Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University.[11]

Delhi

Delhi has at Delhi University, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (deemed university) undertaking research and teaching in Sanskrit.[12]

Gujarat

Gujarat has Shree Somnath Sanskrit University and 50 Sanskrit pathsaalas, of which 38 are officially rcognised by the government.[13]

Haryana

Haryana state has over 24 Sanskrit collages offering education equivalent to bachelors degree, additionally masters and doctoral level degrees are also offered by the Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University.[14] In 2018, Haryana established Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal as a teaching and affiliating university for research in Sanskrit, vedas, Indic languages, Indian culture and Indian philosophy.[7]

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes.[15]

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has many Sanskrit institutes.[16]

Karnataka

Karnataka has many Sanskrit institutes.[17]

Kerala

Kerala has many Sanskrit institutes, including Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.[18]

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes, including Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan and Maharishi Panini Sanskrit Evam Vedic Vishwavidyalaya.[19]

Maharashtra

Maharashtra has many Sanskrit institutes, including Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University.[20]

Odisha

Odisha has many Sanskrit institutes, including Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidayalaya.[21]

Punjab and Chandigarh

Punjab and Chandigarh have many Sanskrit institutes.[22]

Rajasthan

Rajasthan has many Sanskrit institutes, including Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University.[23]

Sikkim

Sikkim has many Sanskrit institutes.[24]

Tamilnadu

Tamilnadu has many Sanskrit institutes.[25]

Tripura

Tripura has many Sanskrit institutes.[26]

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes, including Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.[27]

West Bengal

West Bengal has at least four universities with Sanskrit departments.[28]

See also

Further reading

  • Rajiv Malhotra (2016), Battle for Sanskrit: Dead or Alive, Oppressive or Liberating, Political or Sacred? (Publisher: Harper Collins India; ISBN 978-9351775386)

References

  1. ↑ Theosophical Society (Madras, India) (1891). The Theosophist. 12. Theosophical Publishing House. p. 192. ISSN 0040-5892. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ The Path. 9. W.Q. Judge. 1895. p. 296. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Language in India". languageinindia.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ "YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ This village speaks gods language 13 Aug 2005 Times of India Retrieved on September 14, 2008
  6. ↑ Sanskrit Literature movement.
  7. 1 2 Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University to be set up at Kaithal, Business Standard, 15 Mar 2018.
  8. ↑ Haryana announces Sanskrit university, Jagranjosh.
  9. ↑ Andhra Pradesh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  10. ↑ Andhra Pradesh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  11. ↑ Bihar in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  12. ↑ Delhi in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  13. ↑ Gujrat in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  14. ↑ Haryana in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  15. ↑ Himachal Pradesh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  16. ↑ Jammu and Kashmir in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  17. ↑ Karnataka in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  18. ↑ Kerala in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  19. ↑ Madhya Pradesh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  20. ↑ Maharashtra in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  21. ↑ Odisha in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  22. ↑ Punjab and Chandigarh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  23. ↑ Rajasthan in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  24. ↑ Sikkim in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  25. ↑ Tamilnadu in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  26. ↑ Tripura in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  27. ↑ Uttar Pradesh in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
  28. ↑ West Bengal in Sanskrit Studies In India, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
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