Five more Vedic Vidyalayas to be opened in north India

Allahabad: With Vedic Vidyalayas catching people's fancy in the Hindi belt, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is all set to open five new such centres in north India. These centres will open in Amritsar (Punjab), Gurgaon (Haryana), New Delhi, Brindawan (Uttar Pradesh) and Baswara (Rajasthan). The new academic session in these vedic schools will start from the second week of July.
The VHP has already completed the recruitment process of teachers who would be teaching Ved and Vedang, including Jyotish, Vyakaran, Chand, Nirukt, Kavya and Shiksha at these schools. Around 120 new students would be enrolled at these new vidhayalaya.
Acharya Pankaj Sharma, principal of Maharshi Bhardwaj Ved Vedang Shikshan Kendra, Prayag, told TOI, “Maharshi Ved Vyas Prathisthan, Pune and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are currently running 27 and six vedic vidyalayas, respectively, across the country wherein around 1400 children are being taught about ved and vedang."
“Two of VHP's six vidyalayas are currently operational in Prayag. Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Ayodhya have one centre each. However, six new vedic vidhayalya would accommodate more children willing to learn ved and vedang," he added.
Sharma said that Vedic Vidyalayas are emerging as the latest fad and more and more parents/guardians were approaching to get their wards admitted in these schools.
There are around 33 Vedic Vidyalayas across the country, with UP accounting for eight of them. Prayag and Haridwar have two schools while Kashi, Mathura, Ayodhya, Rishikesh and Lucknow have one each. Vedic schools have also been set up in Manipur, Kolkata, Jammu, Pune, Amrawati and Pushkar.
These centres offer a seven-year course in Vedas. The academic session of Vedic Vidyalayas in Prayag usually begins in July month.
Around 125 vedic teachers from all 33 vedic vidyalyas recently attended a five-day Vedaadhyanan Swadhaya Sangam (Vedic teachers self-study conference) at Bhrama Savitri Ved Vidya Peeth, Puskar in Rajasthan from June 19 to 23. These teachers were apprised about the new methods of ved teaching. The conference, organised by the Maharshi Ved Vyas Prathisthan, Pune, was also attended by professors and teachers from foreign countries as well.
"The fact is that many western universities too offer graduate level courses in Vedas, Sanskrit, Hindu philosophy, yoga, ayurveda, jyotish and medicines. Meritorious students get a worldwide exposure as various universities are on the lookout for such students. Demand for acharyas and experts is on the rise in western countries," said Acharya Sharma.