Oriental, Conventional and Non-Conventional Learning Programmes in India (Higher Education System)

ORIENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES OF INDIA

Oriental Research Institutes are institutions especially devoted to Indological studies. Indology is the science of study of culture in all its aspects. With the disappearance of the Gurukula system and the ancient universities like those at Nālandā and Takṣaśilā and also the gradual dissolution of the powerful kingdoms by conquests from outside, it became necessary to evolve a method by which the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the country could be revived and preserved.

It is the Western scholars of the 19th and the 20th centuries who were mainly responsible for this revival, though many scholars also has contributed considerably to it. The work of these institutes consisted chiefly in collecting and collating rare manuscripts in the oriental languages like Prākṛt and Sanskrit dealing with religion, philosophy, literature, grammar, arts and sciences, editing them and publishing them with or without translations and explanatory notes. Where and when such publications are not possible, the manuscripts and other connected materials are preserved by using various modern and scientific devices. A brief account of these institutions is explained in the article further.

Adyar Library and Research Center

It is in Chennai. The Theosophical Society of Madras was started in A. D. 1882 at Adyar and the Library in A.D. 1886 by Col. Olcott. This Library has gradually grown into a research center in Oriental studies. It now has 1,75,000 printed books and 18,600 manuscripts. Many of these manuscripts have been procured from other countries also, like China, Persia, Siam and Sri Lanka.

The printed books include old and rare Indological works on different religions and philosophies in languages like Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan and Latin apart from Sanskritand English. The institution is lime-lighting many rare and unpublished works in its Adyar Library Series. The publication of the series of 108 Upaniṣads with the Advaitic commentary of Upaniṣad Brahmayogīndra, apart from several āgamas, is a great achievement. The Library also has been publishing a journal Brahmavidyā since A. D. 1937. It gives all help and assistance to those scholars who intend to do research and special study.

Asiatic Society

One of the good results of the British conquest of India is the deep interest aroused in Indological studies in the Western intellectuals and scholars. The person who gave an institutional framework to such studies was Sir William Jones. He did it by starting ‘The Asiatic Society’ in A. D. 1794. Jones was a fellow of the Royal Society, London. He came to India as a puisne judge of the Bengal Supreme Court at Fort William. Within months of his arrival he founded the society ‘in order to stimulate and facilitate the inquiries of the ingenious, to provide the means of preserving the numerous tracts and essays which otherwise would be lost to the public, and to concentrate all the valuable knowledge which might be obtained in Asia.’ He was an Orientalist of repute and hence was elected its first President. John Gilchrist, H. H. Wilson, James Prinsep and Henry Colebrooke were some of the other distinguished Orientalists who served the Society as Secretary/President. Warren Hastings and Lord Wellesley who were Governors-General took a keen interest in its activities and development during their tenure.

The society shifted to its own premises in A. D. 1808. An impressive nine-storied structure was put up in A. D. 1961-65 to house all its growing departments. The name of the Society underwent several changes during the last two centuries, such as: the Asiatick Society The Asiatic Society; The Asiatic Society of Bengal; The Royal Society of Bengal and the Asiatic Society again since July 1951. It was both an irony and a paradox that for many years the membership of the Asiatic Society was not open to any Asian. It was exclusively restricted to Europeans. Indian members began to be admitted only as late as A. D. 1829. Rajendralal Mitra was the first Indian to hold the highest office of the President (A. D. 1885).

The Society has an extensive library which includes books and journals in almost all the Asian and European Languages. It also has a large collection of valuable manuscripts in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Tibetan, Burmese and a few Indian languages. It has brought out several publications based on research conducted by competent scholars. It is also publishing a journal, Journal of the Asiatic Society. The Society has been recognized as a research center for Indological studies in India and abroad.

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

It is located in Pune. This institute was started in A. D. 1917 at Pune to commemorate the life and works of R. G. Bhaṇḍārkar,^[11] a distinguished pioneer of scientific Orientology in India. It is a registered body and is managed by a Regulating Council and also an Executive Board. It is financed by the governments of India, Government of Maharashtra and also the University Grants Commission.

Bhaṇḍārkar’s personal library, a veritable treasury of Oriental books and research journals, was presented to the institute on the very day of its inauguration. It was further enriched by the transfer of a precious collection of over 20,000 books in Sanskrit and Prākṛt manuscripts from the famous Deccan College, by the then Government of Bombay Presidency. The Institute is holding an All-India Oriental Conference every two years in different centers of learning and the proceedings are published regularly. The Institute is also bringing out periodically, the Annals, containing research papers. So far, more than seventy issues of this journal have been published.

The library of the institution has now grown to 82,000 volumes of very valuable books. It is available for use and consultation to students and scholars interested in Oriental research. By far, the crowning achievement of this famous institute is the publication of the critical and illustrated edition of the epic Mahābhārata. The project was started in A. D. 1919 and completed in A. D. 1966. History of Dharmaśāstra by Dr. P. V. Kāṇe and the critical edition of the Harivanśa are the other two illustrious publications. The institute has its own printing press.

Bringing out descriptive catalogs of the manuscripts in its possession, facilities for post-graduate research work in Indological subjects, work on a comprehensive dictionary of Prākṛt language and also a cultural index of the Mahābhārata are the ongoing projects now.

Ganganath Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth

It is located in Allahabad. It was established in A. D. 1934. Formerly, it was known as G. N. Jhā Research Institute. It was started to perpetuate the memory of Gaṅgānāth Jhā who was an eminent Indologist, a great scholar in Sanskrit and a Vice-chancellor of the Allahabad University for nine years. The Institute was taken over by the Government of India in A. D. 1945, placed under the Rāṣṭrīya Sanskṛta Sansthāna of Delhi and renamed ‘Ganganath Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha’. It is mainly a research institute admitting students only for Ph.D., D.Litt. which are the degrees awarded by the Sansthāna. It has modern facilities for research work. It has brought out a number of rare books of Sanskrit and is also publishing a quarterly journal.

Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute

It is in Chennai. This Institute was founded in A. D. 1944 in memory of the great savant S. Kuppusvāmi Śāstrī in A. D. 1944. At the initial stage, the Institute was engaged in coordinating the activities of some of the institutions like the Oriental Research Institute and the Madras Sanskrita Academy. Later on, the objectives were expanded in scope to include oriental learning and research in all its aspects. As a part of this, it organizes periodical meetings and conferences, conducts seminars and maintains a good library. It is located within the campus of the Sanskrit College at Mylapore.

It is bringing out a Journal of Oriental Research, of which 55 Volumes have already seen the light of the day. Fifty important books and monographs on subjects like astrology, medicine, literature and religion, have also been published. Its administration lies in the hands of a managing committee with representatives from the Central and the State governments as also from the Institute itself. This managing committee is ably assisted by a research committee of scholars.

The library of the Institute has 30,000 volumes, including periodicals from India and abroad. The personal collections of many scholars have enriched it over the years. The Institute runs different courses like M.Phil., Ph.D. and Vidyāvāridhi, they being affiliated to, or recognized by, competent authorities like the University of Madras, Rāṣṭṛīya Sanskṛta Sansthāna and others. It provides all opportunities and assistance to research scholars in Indological subjects from all over India. Among its special activities, the following need to be mentioned:

• Classes for teaching spoken Sanskrit
• Preparation of a Śaivāgama Kosa
• Setting up of groups for special critical studies
• Comparative study of texts on the tāla systems in Indian music and so on

Collection and microfilming of valuable manuscripts is another aspect of the Institute’s work.

Madras Sanskrit College

It is situated in Chennai. The College was founded in A. D. 1905 by V. Krishnaswamy Iyer and started working from February 1906. The course it offered was for duration of five years and was modeled on the traditional methods of teaching. The certificate awarded to successful students was for Viśārada degree, the subjects being Vedas, Vedānta, Mīmānsā, Smṛtis and some allied subjects.

The institution was given recognition by the Education Department of Madras State in A. D. 1907. Later on, in A. D. 1912, it was affiliated to the University of Madras, which introduced Oriental Title Examinations with additional courses of study and new syllabus. The College hosted the Third All India Oriental Conference in A. D. 1924 for three days.

The Golden Jubilee celebrations of the College were conducted in A. D. 1957 and the Centenary of the founder in A. D. 1963. Similarly, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations were held in A. D. 1981. During these years several courses like the Vedabhāṣya, the Jyotiṣaśiromaṇi and also the Vyākaraṇaśiromaṇi were started. Many scholars took part in disputations, discourses and demonstration classes. The College threw open its courses for women students also from A. D. 1989. It is making fast and steady progress over the last few years. Its old students have distinguished themselves not only in India but also abroad for their erudition and research work in the fields of Sanskrit and allied branches.

Mythic Society

It is located in Bangalore. It is an institution devoted to the study and research of religion, philosophy, history, ethnology and culture. The Mythic Society of Bangalore was was founded in A. D. 1909, primarily at the initiative of F. J. Richards, the then Collector of Civil and Military Station Cantonment of Bangalore. Starting with a core of just 17 members, the number has now crossed 400.

The Society is run by a Managing Committee duly elected by the members. All the official proceedings were being conducted at various places in the city until the Society got its own land and building in A. D. 1917. The building has been named ‘Daly Memorial Hall’ in memory of Sir Hugh Daly, the Resident of the then Mysore State, who helped the Society in getting the land and putting up the building.

The library of the Society has a very good collection of books of about 36,000 volumes including rare and valuable books and also manuscripts, acquired from various sources, like the personal libraries of many savants. It includes the back-numbers of many well-known journals on subjects pertaining to Indology. Some of the rare books in its collection include the ones published in the 17th, the 18th and the 19th centuries.

The books and the manuscripts are in various languages like Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi and also some foreign languages such as French and English. The Society is also publishing a journal entitled Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society since A. D. 1909 itself. It contains the research papers read at the meetings of the Society. The other specialties of the Society are:

• A portrait gallery of eminent personalities closely associated with it since its inception
• Endowments in memory of scholars
• Conducting seminars and symposia on Indological subjects
• A training course in research work
• A certificate course in the history of the Karnataka State
• Exhibitions on our cultural heritage
• Felicitations of scholars
• Hosting All India conferences of academic bodies and so on

The Mythic Society’s contribution to oriental studies is significant.

Oriental Institute

It is situated in Baroda. This institute was first founded at the instance of Sayyāji Rao Gāyakvāḍ, the third by the then dewan in A. D. 1893 with a small collection of manuscripts and printed texts. It formed a part of the Sanskrit section of the central library of Baroda. The now famous Gaekwad’s Oriental Series was started in A. D. 1915. The Kāvyamimāmsā of Rājaśekhara was the first publication.

Under the orders of the Baroda Government, ‘The Oriental Institute’ formally came into being in A. D. 1927. The translation branch of the Education Department of the State was amalgamated with the Institute in A. D. 1931. When the M. S. University of Baroda was established in A. D. 1949, the Oriental Institute became its constituent. The Institute got its own building in A.D. 1958.

The main object of this Oriental Institute has been to develop a well-equipped library of rare and unpublished manuscripts as also reference material on Oriental and Indological subjects. After proper scrutiny and editing, some of them are being published. So far, 789 volumes have been brought out, not only in Sanskrit but also in some other languages like Gujarātī and Hindi. Persian and Arabic publications too find a place in this series.

These books have been well-received in scholarly circles and have also won accolades from distinguished institutions and authorities, not only of India but also from abroad. Another important work of the Institute is the publication of catalogs of manuscripts. There is a permanent exhibition of several interesting items of ancient writing materials and calligraphy such as ink powders of various types,^[23] lekhanīs or styluses, ink-pots of cowrie and brass, glazers made of agate that burnish the manuscript scrolls, painted cloth of 18th century playing cards and painted wooden covers for manuscripts, home-made paper and so on.

The Institute published a critical edition of the Rāmāyaṇa which has been widely acclaimed. Work is now in progress on the critical editions of Viṣṇupurāṇa and the Mārkandeyapurāṇa. About fifty works are under preparation by different scholars to be published in due course. The Institute has the potentiality into being developed as a big center for South Asian studies.

Oriental Manuscripts Library

It is situated in Tiruvanantapuram or Trivandrum. It started in A. D. 1911 as a department of the Government of Travancore and then it was amalgamated with the Manuscripts Library of the Kerala University in A. D. 1940. It has a collection of over 50,000 manuscripts in Sanskrit, Malayālam and other languages. It is publishing two journals, one in Sanskrit and the other in Malayālam. The Library has also published books on Astronomy, Indian Music and other similar subjects.

Oriental Research Institute

It is in Mysore. Chamaraja Wodeyar, the Mahārāja of the erstwhile Mysore State, who was a staunch admirer and follower of the values of life, founded this Oriental Institute in A. D. 1891. It was then known as ‘Oriental Library’. Its centenary was celebrated in December 1990. When the University of Mysore was established in A. D. 1916, the Institute was placed under its jurisdiction. A committee of very eminent scholars started managing its library and the associated activities.

The Institute is concentrating mainly on the collection of valuable manuscripts of treatises in Sanskrit and Kannada, preserving them and publishing some of them in due course. The year A. D. 1909 has been cherished in its annals since Dr. R. Shama Sastri discovered, edited and published the hitherto unknown treatise, the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya for the first time. At present the Institute has 66,000 manuscripts, with arrangements for microfilming them. It has in its library 25,000 printed books also in various Indian languages.

Starting with the publication of the Āpastambasutra in A. D. 1893, and the Ādipurāna in Kannada of the great poet Pampa the institution has so far brought out a very large number of books both in Sanskrit and in Kannada. By A. D. 1979, 127 Sanskrit books had been published. Three descriptive catalogs have so far been prepared of the manuscripts in its possession. It provides a good scope for research work also in the field of Oriental studies.

Oriental Research Institute

It is located in Tirupati. The temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is not only a place of pilgrimage but also a place of Oriental learning. The management of the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthānams has been spending a part of the surplus funds for the propagation of education and spread of religion and culture. As a part of this, the Oriental Research Institute of Tirupati came into being in A. D. 1941. When the Sri Venkateshwara University was started in A. D. 1954, Tirupati became its seat. The Institute was handed over to it in A. D. 1956.

The Institute promotes research and textual studies in the areas of Sanskrit, Telugu, philosophy, religion, ancient history and culture. The following are the fields of its activities:

• Publication of rare manuscripts
• Preparation of well-documented and authenticated reference-works like historical dictionaries, encyclopedic indexes and anthologies
• Publication of a journal (Oriental Journal)’
• Preparation of descriptive catalogs of manuscripts
• A good library with important books and journals as also some modern facilities
• Conducting diploma courses in manuscriptology and epigraphy
• Holding of seminars and summer courses in the culture

The Institute has brought out sixty-five books so far in Sanskrit, English, Telugu and Tamil. In A. D. 1955, the fourth Sanskṛta Viśvaparisad was held under its auspices. The institution moved into its own new premises in A. D. 1977, now known as ‘Tiruppāṇ Ālvār Bhavan’. Its library now contains 26,000 printed books and 17,000 Manuscripts. Facilities have been provided for research work by scholars and specialists.

Some of the long-term projects taken up by the Institute are:

• An Encyclopedic Dictionary on Ancient Women
• Alphabetical index of quotations given by the various commentators on the prasthānatraya, called Vedāntabhāsyodāharanakośa
• Purānakośa in Telugu
• Veñkateśvara Temples, A Study in English
• Bibliography on the Bhagavadgitā in English
• Descriptive catalogs of Sanskrit manuscripts

A one-year Post-graduate Diploma Course in epigraphy is another useful activity of the Institute. Other courses in subjects like manuscriptology are also being contemplated.

Sanskrita Academy

It is in Chennai. The Sanskrita Academy of Chennai was started in A. D. 1927 in the Senate Hall of the Old Senate building of the University of Madras by Paṇḍit Madan Mohan Mālavīya. The well-known savant Kuppusvāmi Sāstri was chosen as the first president. Still housed in the campus of the University of Madras, its various objectives and activities include:

• Research in Sanskrit
• Publishing a Sanskrit Journal
• Publication of critical editions of important Sanskrit works
• Honoring Sanskrit scholars by awarding fellowships and diplomas
• Creating an Oriental Public Library
• Organizing periodical conferences of paṇḍits
• Conducting competitions in Sanskrit literary activities
• Enacting Sanskrit dramas
• Arrangements for teaching spoken Sanskrit

It is also conducting free Sanskrit classes and awarding scholarships to deserving students studying Sanskrit. It has successfully celebrated Silver Jubilee, Golden Jubilee and Diamond jubilee with various programs. It has brought out twenty books and monographs to popularize Sanskrit. The academy has been quite active not only in propagating Sanskrit but also in opposing anti-Sanskrit policies or movements especially in Tamil Nadu.

Sanskrita Sahitya Parishat

It is situated in Kolkata. This institution owes its origin to a handful of Sanskrit pundits with limited financial resources but endowed with unlimited love and zeal for the rich heritage of the country. Founded in A. D. 1916 in a tiny rented house, it has now housed its own spacious three storeyed building. It has now become an advanced center of Sanskrit learning and research. It has all aspects of a typical research center viz.:

• Teaching facilities
• A well-equipped library providing all opportunities for research
• Publishing books after carefully scrutinizing and editing the manuscripts
• Bringing out a journal of its own

It provides free teaching in its Catuspāthi section in subjects like Vedānta, Navyanyāya, Sāṅkhya, Smrtis, Pāṇini and Kāvya. Scholarships are also offered to meritorious students. The Pariṣat can boast of possessing 20,000 manuscripts, especially on the subjects of dharmaśāstras and Navyanyāya. Descriptive catalogs of the manuscripts are almost ready for publication. The library has 22,000 printed books which are easily available to non-members also for reference work. Another specialty of this library is that it is able to add photo copies of extremely rare books also, whenever the originals are available.

The Pariṣat is publishing a monthly Sanskrit journal of research value. It has also brought out fifty important Sanskrit texts so far. More literature is in the process which will be out in the near future. Work is now under progress on the famous work on Navyanyāya, the Tattva-cintāmani of Gaṅgeśa with the commentary Mayukha. The several Tattvas of Raghunandana are also in the process of being published in due course. Other activities of the institution include honoring veteran and great scholars in Sanskrit, organizing dramatic shows in Sanskrit for popularizing the language and conducting classes on German language.

The Government Sanskrit College

It is in Kolkata. This College was established in A. D. 1824 by the East India Company. The method of teaching Sanskrit was traditional. The subjects taught too were the usual traditional ones like Nyāya and other systems of philosophy, grammar, astrology and āyurveda. When īśvaracandra Vidyāsāgara became its principal in 1851, he introduced the Western method of teaching in the college.

In the publication section, 134 books have so far been published in the Sanskrit College Series of Texts and Studies. They include original texts, studies and also lexicons. The Paippalādasamhitā in two parts and the Chāndogya Brāhmaṇa with the commentary of Gayāviṣṇu are two of the most outstanding contributions of this section. The College is bringing out a biannual bulletin called Our Heritage since A. D. 1953. The post-graduate and research department started in A. D. 1951 is attracting serious students and scholars.

Sarasvati Mahal Library

It is located in Thanjavur. Known to contain one of the largest and the most important collection of Indian manuscripts in the world, the Sarasvatī Mahal Library of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu was probably established by the end of the 16th century A. D. Its full official name is “Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji’s Sarasvati Mahal Library”. Since it was originally under Telugu Nāyaks, many of the Sanskrit manuscripts are in Telugu script. After the Maratha conquest in the 18th century A. D., there was a phenomenal growth of the Library. Later, Mahārāja Serfoji Rao added a large number of manuscripts as a result of his visit to Vārāṇasi during the period A. D. 1820-30. This personal library of the Mahārājas was made a public trust in A.D. 1918. The total number of manuscripts now exceeds 50,000. Quite a few of these have been edited and printed.

Vishveshvaranand Vishvabandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies

It is located in Hoshiarpur. Two sanyāsins, Svāmis Viśveśvarānanda and Nityānanda, launched a project at Simla, now in Himachal Pradesh, in A. D. 1903 to prepare word-indices for the four principal Vedic Samhitās. After the passing away of Svāmi Nityānanda and after changing the place ultimately to Lahore, now in Pakistan, in A. D. 1923, Svāmi Viśveśvarānanda handed over the work and the project to Ācārya Viśvabandhu.

By now, only the word-indices had been brought out and work had begun on a Vedic lexicon. The Ācārya expanded the scope of the work and finally succeeded in publishing the Vedic Word Concordance in five volumes and subdivided into sixteen parts by running into 11,000 pages, in A. D. 1965. The Institute was originally known as ‘The Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute’ at Sadhu Ashram. The Punjab University took it over in A. D. 1965 and renamed it as ‘The Vishveshvaranand Vishvabandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies’.

The Institute then took up the huge dictionary project. As projected, it was to deal with 80,000 basic homonymic entries with 25 lakhs of textual references. After receiving the reactions of various scholars to the specimen fascicule, the project was bifurcated into two streams, the former being renamed as A Comparative and Critical Dictionary of Vedic Interpretation.

An Academic Committee was formed in A.D. 1985 to assist in this ambitious project. This committee changed the name again to ‘A Dictionary of Vedic Interpretation’. Apart from this their other upcoming projects are:

• The Institute is also preparing the critical editions of the Vedic texts with the available, but unpublished, commentaries.
• The Institute has already published some rare works like the Ksudra Kalpasutra, Āśvalāyana Śrautasutra, Āpastamba Sulbasutra and Vādhula Śrautasutra.
• There are other projects also like linguistic studies of the dialects of North-Western region of India and a glossary of some Himālayan dialects.
• A few more projects are being vigorously pursued and may be completed soon.

Epilogue

The country has a very rich religious and cultural heritage of hoary antiquity. Even the Rgveda, the oldest religio-literary work in the world, has several references to much earlier episodes and periods. The epics and the purāṇas, though apparently a mixture of myths and realities, do contain quite a bit of ancient history. Discoveries through the continuing archaeological excavations are adding more and more knowledge to our storehouse of the ancient wisdom.

Hence Indological studies and research have acquired even greater relevance today. The various institutions described above, are doing invaluable work in this field and need much greater support and encouragement. Then their contribution to unearthing our ancient history can also influence our present and future lives.

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