BHU starts first-ever MA Hindu Studies course in India with 45 students. Here's what will be taught

The course will be conducted from the Bharat Adhyayan Kendra and will "make the world aware of many unknown aspects of Hindu Dharma," said the Rector, Dr VK Shukla 
Banaras Hindu University (BHU): PTI
Banaras Hindu University (BHU): PTI

The Banaras Hindu University is now the first institution in India to offer a postgraduate course in Hindu Studies. The varsity welcomed its first batch of 45 students on January 18. The course will be conducted from the Bharat Adhyayan Kendra and will "make the world aware of many unknown aspects of Hindu Dharma," said the Rector, Dr VK Shukla.

So what will be taught during this course? A look at the first week's timetable creates a vast map. The first week’s time table comprises lectures on Evolution of Hindu Dharma, What is Hindu Studies, The Antiquity and the Meaning of the Term Hindu, Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics, Hindu of Foreign Origin and Hinduism and Brahmanism.

The course, under Faculty of Arts, will be conducted at Bharat Adhyayan Kendra in collaboration with Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Sanskrit and Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archeology. In total, 45 students have been admitted to the course, of which one is a foreign student. 

The Rector also said that the course is an inter-disciplinary programme, which was in line with the National Education Policy 2020. Dr Vijay Shankar Shukla, Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, said that the idea behind this goes way back to 18th century scholar Ganganath Jha and travels through time to Mahamana. However, the link was broken for some reasons. But, with the initiation of this course, the goal appears to have been achieved.

Dr Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi, Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, and Centenary Chair Professor, Bharat Adhyayan Kendra, who chaired the programme, said that one cannot separate Hindu Dharma from being constantly logical and scientific.

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