Table of Contents
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is a collegiate-level central university in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. In 1916, Rameshwar Singh, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sunderlal and Annie Besant established the university. Moreover, 30,000+ students reside in the campus which owns the credit of being the greatest residential university in Asia. Now, let’s know about the History of BHU.
Historical Prospectus
The history of BHU passed through adverse conditions. Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya put forward the idea of Hindu University in 1904 at Varanasi. In October 1905, the university circulated its prospect and on 31st December 1905, a meeting was held in Varanasi where a handful of educationalists and representatives of the Hindu Community from India assembled. The Congress of Hindu Religion under the Presidency of Shri Shankaracharya also considered and approved it in Jan 1906.
Highlights
Former name | Central Hindu College |
Motto | Knowledge imparts Immortality |
Type | Public |
Established | 4 February 1916 |
Founders | Madan Mohan Malaviya, Annie Besant, Rameshwar Singh, Sunder Lal |
Chancellor | Giridhar Malaviya |
Vice-chancellor | V.K. Shukla |
Visitor | President of India |
Rector | Governor of Uttar Pradesh |
Students | 30,000+ |
Campus | Multiple sites |
Location | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India 25.2677°N, 82.9891°E |
Mascot | Goddess Saraswati |
Website | bhu.ac.in |
University Anthem | Kulgeet |
Affiliations | ACU, AIU, NAAC, UGC |
Short Details About BHU
At the sacred Sangam (meeting place of the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati at Prayag) Malaviya ji took a vow to dedicate his life to the establishment of the proposed University and meanwhile he realized it was a great project to be taken up with his profession and launched the mission in Jan 1911.
Contributions and Suggestions
Finally, in the history of BHU, Mrs Besant suggested establishing a University under the name “The University of India” and in April 1911, Besant and Malaviya ji decided to unite their forces and work for Hindu University. Moreover, an appeal for Rs.1 crore for the establishment of the University was made to the public by Malaviya ji on July 15, 1911. Deputations were organized for raising funds so they visited Calcutta, United Provinces, Bihar, and Punjab. Meanwhile, promises of donation of nearly Rs.30 Lakhs were secured from the public in the course of a few months. Consequently, the Darbhanga Maharaja donated Rs.50 Lakhs and led the deputation to many Indian states to raise funds.
In December 1911, a society named ‘The Hindu University’ fashioned and registered. Furthermore, the movement for collection at this stage went into full swing. Also, the princes, the poor and the rich contributed their mite towards the funds of the University. Besides this, contributions came from the entire nation.
The BHU Bill
Sir Harcourt Butler introduced the BHU Bill in the Imperial Legislative general assembly in March 1915 and referred it to a selected committee. That committee came up along with the report concluding the reading before the Imperial Legislative Council. On 1st October 1915, the Imperial Legislative board passed the bill and then received the assent of the Governor-General and Viceroy of India and became Law.
The history of BHU finally took a new way all around and B.H.U. finally established in 1916. The muse for the elemental field of the University laid by Lord Hardinge on Vasant Panchami 4 February 1916.
History Of BHU Expansion
Consequently, in between 5-8 February 1916, to promote the University’s expansion Malaviya ji invited eminent guest speakers namely, Mahatma Gandhi, Jagdish Chandra, Satyendra Nath Bose, C.V.Raman, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Sam Hamminginton, Patron Saint Geddes and Annie Besant to produce a series of lectures known as “The University Extension Lectures”. Moreover, Gandhi’s lecture on the event was his first public address in India.
Sunderlal was appointed the primary VC and its academic session began within the same month while the campus was built over 1300 acres (5.3 square km ) on the southern edge of Varanasi, near the bank of the river Ganges, on the land donated by the Kashi Naresh on the fringes of the city.
History of BHU’s Campus facilities
The campus hostel and the main entrance gate are the pride of BHU in which the campus has over 60 hostels offering residential accommodations for over 12,000 students. On-campus housing is additionally on market to a majority of the full-time faculty. Adjacent to it, the main entrance gate and boundary wall was constructed with the donation made by Maharaja of Balrampur and Maharaja Pateshwari Prasad Singh.
History of Central Library
It is the main Library on campus and houses over 1.3 million volumes as of 2011. Recently in 1941, the construction of this library was completed, financed by Maharaja SayajiRao Gaekwad III of Baroda. Along with the main library, there are three institute libraries, eight faculty libraries, and over 25 departmental libraries available for pupils and staff.
Sir Sunderlal Hospital
S.S. Hospital stands as a teaching and learning hospital for the institute of medical sciences, estb. in 1926 with 96 beds, then it has been expanded to over 900 beds and is the largest tertiary referral hospital within the region.
Vishwanath Temple BHU
Truly, it is the most well-known landmark located in the centre of the Campus. In March 1931, the foundation for this 252 feet high complex of seven temples, namely the Vishwanath Temple laid, and subsequently took almost three decades to complete.
Bharat Kala Bhawan
It is an art and archaeological museum in the Campus. In January 1920, it got established and its first chairman was Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, with his nephew Abanindranath Tagore as a vice-chairman.
RGSC, BHU
By the Bharat Mandal Trust in 1979, the Rajiv Gandhi South Campus in Barkachha, Mirzapur district spreading over 2700 acres (11square km) transferred in a form of lease to BHU. Also, the South campus hosts the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Agricultural science centre) with a focus on research in Agricultural techniques, agro-forestry, and biodiversity to the Vindhya Range Region.
Hostel Facilities in BHU Campus
BHU is a fully residential University with a total of 62 hostels, separately for boys and girls also had 4 separate hostels for students from abroad. Hostels are named after eminent personalities such as Birla, Shastri, Lakshmibai, etc. and the Birla hostel is one of the oldest hostels constructed in 1921 by the industrialist Shri Jugal Kishore Birla in memory of his father Baldev Das Birla and is also the biggest hostel. Additionally, for the administrative purpose, the Birla hostel was divided into 3 sub hostels – Birla A, Birla B, Birla C. Undergraduate students are accommodated in Birla A, whereas Birla B is supposed for Analysis students(Research Scholars) and Birla C for postgraduate students.
Affiliated colleges and schools in BHU
Colleges
- Vasanta Kanya Mahavidyalaya
- DAV P.G. College
- VCW (Vasanta College For Women)
- Arya Mahila P.G. College
Schools
- Central Hindu Girls School
- Central Hindu Boys School
- Ranvir Sanskrit Vidyalaya
Academics
In brief, Banaras Hindu University is organized into 6 institutes and 14 faculties(streams ) whose area unit is administratively autonomous with its budget, management and educational bodies.
Admissions
BHU conducts national level UET and PET usually during May-June for admission and February-March is the period of registration and the admissions to B.Tech/Pharm. and M.Tech/Pharm is done through JEE and GATE respectively whereas admissions to MBA and MBA-IB was through IIM-CAT score and also through a separate entrance test BHU-MBA, yet another, admissions in PhD is through NET or CRET Test and in IMS through the PMT exam. For example, in the admission in BFA, candidates are needed to present two sensible practical exams after they have secured a good rank in objective exams whereas Foreign students are admitted through the application submitted to the Indian mission in her/his country by her/his country’s mission in India.
BHU Foundation Day
Banaras Hindu University celebrates Saraswati puja day as the foundation day of BHU every year and we all know that Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of music, arts, wisdom, nature, and knowledge truly reflects the motto of BHU. Students represent their faculty/institute in various art competitions such as poems, debates, essay writing, painting, singing, dancing, drama, music, and mimicry which is held every year during Vasant Panchami in February or March, known as “Spandan”.
Awards and Medals
Additionally, the meritorious students of BHU get a medal for securing the first position in the respective departments/faculties.
Protests
For instance, a woman reported to the university regarding sexual harassment on 21 September 2017 and claimed that the university responded by blaming her. As a result, on 22 September 2017 students organised a protest against the university’s treatment of women and the protecting officers used Baton Charge in an attempt to get protesters to disperse.
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