8/22/2019 Lucknow School Reviving Gurukul System

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Lucknow school reviving gurukul system

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The Indian education system may be modelling itself on the West, but a school here

is returning to tradition by trying to revive the ancient gurukul system

Lucknow: The Kanchi Kamakoti Shankaracharya Ved Evam Vedic Sanskar Shiksha Kendra,

set up five years ago on a sprawling area in Indira Nagar under the aegis of

Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati, has begun to show the results of its gurukul

system.

The first batch of its shishyas (disciples) will pass out and don the mantle of Vedic teachers.

Interestingly, age is no barrier here as the youngest graduate Udit Awasthi is just stepping

into his teens.

Udit was seven years old when he joined this gurukul. Today, he is teaching Sanskrit

grammar as part of his internship here and many of his students are older than him.

Five years of rigorous schedules conforming to the guru-shishya tradition have given a

different outlook to the little scholar, who not only recites Sanskrit shlokas from the Vedas,

but also speaks fluent English.

Acharya S.G. Swaminathan, the head of the institution, said: "The rules are strict. You have

no TV, no radio and no other source of entertainment. Life is confined to studying and

performing Vedic rituals. Students are not allowed to meet friends or relatives, including

parents, brothers or sisters.

"Their day begins rather early with a round of yoga, which is followed by lessons in ancient

Hindu scriptures and rituals that go on throughout the day," he said.

Swaminathan added: "Our aim is to propagate and preserve traditional Indian ethos."

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8/22/2019 Lucknow School Reviving Gurukul System

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He says it was Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati who thought of establishing the gurukul.

The Indian education system may be modelling itself on the West, but a school here

is returning to tradition by trying to revive the ancient gurukul system

"When the Shankaracharya visited Lucknow in 2000 on his way to the Kumbh Mela in

Allahabad, he wanted a few well-qualified pundits to accompany him for the rituals. He was

disappointed by the response as most of those who were presented before him failed to

pronounce the shlokas correctly," Swaminathan said.

"It was in the aftermath of that experience that he decided to set up a gurukul in Lucknow

and appointed me to look after the place."

The curriculum includes a fair bit of English too.

"Our goal is to produce culturally educated, intellectually enlightened and physically sound

youngsters equipped to carry out Vedic rituals with perfection," Swaminathan said.

"We believe in keeping them free from stress caused by misguided and meaningless modern

sources of entertainment. Our children live in pure and serene environment and are kept

sanitised from unholy western influences."

The students of the gurukul are not required to observe brahmcharya (celibacy) all their

lives.

"They are free to lead a happy married life, but they are told to remain celibate till they get

married," Swaminathan said.