Sanskrit revival
Encyclopedia
Sanskrit revival is the accumulation of attempts at reviving
the Sanskrit language that have been undertaken.
promoting and participating in the revival of Sanskrit. In 1894 the American Asiatic and Sanskrit Revival Society was established.
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.
The state of Uttarakhand
has become the first state in India to declare Sanskrit as its official language. The Central Board of Secondary Education
in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though it is an option for a school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. 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.
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
.
in the West, who find the language useful in understanding the Yoga Sutra .
, it is spoken in Jihri.
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
.
Language revival
Language revitalization, language revival or reversing language shift is the attempt by interested parties, including individuals, cultural or community groups, governments, or political authorities, to reverse the decline of a language. If the decline is severe, the language may be endangered,...
the Sanskrit language that have been undertaken.
History
In 1891 there was organized activity among the Theosophists in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
promoting and participating in the revival of Sanskrit. In 1894 the American Asiatic and Sanskrit Revival Society was established.
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.
The state of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
has become the first state in India to declare Sanskrit as its official language. The Central Board of Secondary Education
Central Board of Secondary Education
The Central Board of Secondary Education is a Board of Education for public and private schools, under the Union Government of India.-History:...
in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though it is an option for a school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. 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
Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE examination is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private, non-governmental board of school education in India, for class 10, i.e., grade 10...
board too, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. An option between Sanskrit and a local language as a second language exists for grades 9 and 10.
All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
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 organizationNonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
with its headquarters in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, India. The International Centre, “Aksharam,” a complex located in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chapter is a registered nonprofit tax-exempt organization with its headquarters in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
.
Samskrita Bharati functions as an umbrella organization for various organizations working for promotion of Samskrita
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
.
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. It is also popular amongst the many practitioners of yogaYoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
in the West, who find the language useful in understanding the Yoga Sutra .
Samskrita villages
Samskrita is spoken in around 4 villages in India. In Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, it is spoken in Jihri.
Mattur village
The MatturMattur
Mattur is a small village near the city of Shivamogga in Karnataka, South India, known for the usage of Sanskrit for day-to-day communication....
village in central Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Shimoga district claims to have native speakers of Sanskrit among its population. Historically the village was given by king Krishnadevaraya
Krishnadevaraya
Śrī Kriṣhṇa Devarāya , , , and also known as Krishna Devarayulu in some inscriptions was the famed Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509–1529 CE.He is the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians...
of the Vijayanagara Empire
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire , referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was an empire based in South Indian in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of the Yadava lineage. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts...
to Vedic scholars and their families. People in his kingdom spoke Kannada and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
.
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 | Type | Specialization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1791 | Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya | Varnasi | Uttar Pradesh State | |
| 2 | 1962 | Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha | Tirupati | ||
| 3 | 1962 | Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha | New Delhi | Central Govt | |
| 4 | 1970 | Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan | New Delhi | Central Govt | Multi Campus |
| 5 | 1981 | Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidayalaya | Puri | Orissa State | |
| 6 | 1993 | Sree Sankaracharya University Of Sanskrit |
Kalady, Kerala | Kerala State | |
| 7 | 1997 | Kaviguru Kalidas Sanskrit University | Ramtek, Maharashtra | Maharshtra State | Science & Technology |
| 8 | 2001 | Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University |
Jaipur, Rajasthan | Rajasthan State | |
| 9 | 2005 | Shree Somnath Sanskrit University | Somnath-Veraval, Junagarh, Gujarat |
Gujarat State | |
| 10 | 2008 | Maharshi Panini Sanskrit Evam Vedic Vishwavidyalaya |
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh |
Madhya Pradesh State |
|
See also
- VyakaranaVyakaranaThe Sanskrit grammatical tradition of ' is one of the six Vedanga disciplines. It has its roots in late Vedic India, and includes the famous work, The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of ' is one of the six Vedanga disciplines. It has its roots in late Vedic India, and includes the famous work, ...
- Tanittamil IyakkamTanittamil IyakkamThe Thanittamil Iyakkam is a movement of linguistic purism in Tamil literature attempting to emulate the "unadulterated Tamil language" of the Sangam period, avoiding Sanskrit, Persian and English loanwords. It was notably initiated by the writings of Maraimalai Adigal and Paventhar ...
- Altindische GrammatikAltindische GrammatikThe Altindische Grammatik is the monumental Sanskrit grammar by Jacob Wackernagel , after his death continued by Albert Debrunner, published in Göttingen between 1896 and 1957. The work presents a full discussion of Sanskrit phonology and nominal morphology, but a treatment of the verb is lacking...
- Kshetresa Chandra ChattopadhyayaKshetresa Chandra ChattopadhyayaKshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya was a distinguished scholar of Sanskrit from India. A scholar of Sanskrit, Veda, grammar, Pali, Prakrit and philology, he was born on October 27, 1896 in village Nimta of North 24 Parganas in what was then Bengal. He came from an illustrious family of Kulina...
- Dr. Ram Karan SharmaRam Karan SharmaRam Karan Sharma is a Sanskrit poet and scholar. He was, born in 1927 at Shivapur in the Saran district of Bihar. He has been awarded an MA in Sanskrit and Hindi from Patna University as well as Sahityacharya, Vyakarana Shastri and Vedanta Shastri degrees. He earned a PhD in Linguistics from the...