PM Modi will likely visit Sampurnanand Sanskrit University on July 7
Built more than 200 years ago, the university’s library is said to be a treasure trove of handwritten manuscripts. PM Modi is likely to visit the varsity during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the grand old Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Uttar Pradesh on July 7. Built more than 200 years ago, the university’s library is said to be a treasure trove of handwritten manuscripts. PM Modi is likely to visit the varsity during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Sampurnanand Sanskrit University’s library, which was initially called Prince of Wales Saraswati Bhawan, currently houses around 95,000 manuscripts, written in different scripts, including Devanagari, Kharoṣṭhī, Maithili, Oriya, Gurmukhi, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit.
“Our library (Saraswati Bhawan Library) is bracketed among the oldest libraries of the world that have successfully preserved around 95,000 rare manuscripts on subjects like Vedas, Vedangas, Purans, astrology, and grammar. These manuscripts are written in different scripts of Devanagari, Kharoṣṭhī, Maithili, Oriya, Gurmukhi, Telugu, Kannada, and Sanskrit. Of these, some are written on gold leaf, paper, palm, and wood,” said Professor Anand Kumar Tyagi, Vice Chancellor, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.
Shashindra Mishra, the public relation officer of the University, highlighted the history of the institution and its library. “The present-day Sampurnanand Sanskrit University was initially known as Government Sanskrit College and it was established under a proposal by Jonathan Duncan, the then resident of East India Company, and the approval of Governor General Lord Carnwalis. The college was established in 1791 in order to promote the Sanskrit language. Pundit Kashinath was its first teacher and Acharya. There was an arrangement for the teaching of subjects such as Veda, Vedanta, Purana, Ayurveda, Sahitya, Astrology, Theology, Mimamsa, Nyaya, etc,” said Mishra.
Thereafter, several unsuccessful efforts were made to transform the Sanskrit Government College into a full-fledged university. In 1937, another effort was made to give it the name and form of a university, but it could not materialise until 1956 when Varanaseya Sanskrit University Act was passed.
“This university was founded on March 22, 1958, by the then chief minister Dr Sampurnanand and education minister Pt Kamlapati Tripathi at Varanasi, as Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya,” said Mishra. It was, however, later renamed as Sampurnanand Sanskrit University under the UP State University Act, 1973 on December 16, 1974, he added. He further stated that the huge collection of well-preserved manuscripts makes the university’s library the nation’s pride.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to visit the university on July 5 to take stock of ongoing preparations for the PM’s visit. On his two-day visit to Varanasi, PM Modi will address a public meeting in Wazidpur and will lay the foundation of the development projects worth Rs 7,000 crore. Other than visiting the library, the PM would also visit the ancient building of SSU.
