Pune: BORI introduces 2 credits Indian Knowledge System Course in Marathi

Pune, 3rd September 2024: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), a world-renowned pioneer institute of oriental studies, has taken one more step in enhancing its online platform ‘Bharatvidya’. In Maharashtra, BORI has received several frequent queries about the availability of IKS course content in Marathi. In view of this need and demand of the student, BORI is launching a separate course on its online learning platform ‘Bharatvidya.in’ which will provide the lecture courses in Marathi language.

This was announced by Bhupal Patwardhan, Chairman of the Executive Board of BORI in a Press Conference held at the BORI Campus today. Pradeep Rawat – trustee, Prof. Pradeep Apte – Vice Chairman of Regulatory Council, Dr. Gauri Moghe, Content Curator and Project Coordinator and Chinmay Bhandari and Mithilesh Kulkarni from the Digital Initiatives Team of BORI were present on the occasion.

Stating the objective behind this initiative Bhupal Patwardhan said, “We received a splendid response for some of our online initiatives undertaken during the pandemic. This prompted us to start ‘Bharatvidya’, a digital platform that can take the knowledge acquired by BORI over the past 100 years through its meticulous research work to the ones who value it. Currently, 14 courses are available on this platform and thousands are taking it.”

“As per the NEP 2020, a course of 2 credits on the Indian Knowledge System was made mandatory for undergraduate students. The State Government also issued the notification in this regard. So, for the benefit of the students we developed this course in English and offered it through our ‘Bharatvidya’ platform, which was well received and over 10000 students took this course up and successfully completed it. Now, we are happy to launch this IKS course in Marathi”, Patwardhan added.

Pradeep Rawat said, “This course has been developed in tune with NEP’s guidelines to provide education in the mother language. This also underlines the importance of native languages in propagating the ancient Indian knowledge among the young generation and to inspire them to conserve this knowledge in today’s modern world.”

“This IKS program in Marathi has been developed as per the century-old tradition of BORI which gives importance to facts and evidence while undertaking any research project. The program will be accessible to all those who are interested in IKS at just Rs.1999/- per person with lifetime access to the content.For those students who wish to enroll and opt for these courses to earn the credit to be credited to the credit bank as per the understanding reached by the respective college of the student and the fees would be charged accordingly.”, informed Prof. Pradeep Apte.

While sharing some highlights of this program Dr. Gauri Moghe said, “We have included some of the most important subjects related to the Indian Knowledge System in this program which will be made available for the students through pre-recorded videos. This 30-hour program has a total of 27 sessions. Well thought and logical order of the sessions, use of graphics for better understanding and effective presentation will make this course enjoyable.”

“It has subjects related to the Veda, Upanishad, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Purana, Indian Philosophy, Ancient Mathematics, Ayurveda, Yoga Shastra, Art and Architecture, Temple Architecture, Agriculture and Food tradition and important Dynasties from ancient India. The sessions are presented by renowned subject experts. The evaluation of the course is done with the MCQs at the end of course and the certificate shall be awarded at the completion of the entire course”, Dr. Moghe added.

She pointed out that this IKS program will not only help UG students to get the mandatory 2 credits but will also make them aware of our age-old rich cultural and knowledge tradition.

The experts whose sessions are part of this 2 credits IKS course in Marathi include Prof. Pradeep Apte, Dr. Mugdha Gadgil, Dr. Gauri Moghe, Dr. Vijaya Deshpande, Pranav Gokhale, Dr. Manish Walvekar, Rajas Vaishampayan, Dr. Yogesh Bendale, Dr.Girish Welankar and Dr. Bhagyashree Yargop.

Mithilesh Kulkarni from the Digital Initiatives Team of BORI said that a lot of Universities and large educational institutions are in talks with BORI for collaboration to offer this mandatory course at the institute level. Some of the reputed educational institutions and Universities that have already signed MoU with BORI include Maharashtra Education Society, MIT World Peace University, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Sri Balaji University Pune, and Veer Narmad South Gujarat University.