
IIT Indore introduces course delving into classical sciences, mathematics texts in Sanskrit
The course was started to in a bid to expose the present generation to ancient knowledge, an official from the institute said.

On Bal Gangadhar Tilak's 100th death anniversary, stories of his childhood, how he moulded Pune's culture
Today, Bal Gangadhar Tilak's influence can be felt strongly in the city’s pulse – in the elongated Tilak Road (one of many in India); in the sarvajanik Ganeshotsav and Shivajayanti festivities, celebrations which he organised to nurture communal harmony; and in the Kesari Wada, his home, nestled in the heart of the city.

Minority languages suffer from institutional neglect, biases as Indian govt saves its focus for 'classical languages'
Minority languages suffer from institutional neglect since India’s states, founded on the principle of linguistic nationalism, view these languages with suspicion. The Central Government, on the other hand, saves its focus for English and Hindi, the undeserving recipient of nationwide propagation.

India's only Sanskrit daily Sudharma completes five decades, against all odds
Sudharma was the brain child of Kalale Nadadur Varadaraja Iyengar, a renowned Sanskrit scholar. Iyengar decided to start a Sanskrit daily as he felt a newspaper was the perfect medium to popularise the language.

Recent controversies over Sanskrit, Urdu in educational institutions point to growing communalisation of languages
The communalisation of a language like Urdu or Sanskrit has very real consequences for both the language itself, but more importantly, for the people who use it on a regular basis. As a process, it attempts to draw clear lines delineating who can and can’t use a certain language, rewarding transgressions with an open hostility.

BHU students call off stir on fifteenth day of agitation; RSS earlier backed appointment of Muslim professor to Sanskrit department
'The Sangh is of the opinion that opposing Dr Firoz Khan is wrong', said Jayprakash Lal, Vibhag Sanghchalak, RSS Kashi

DMK, Left slam move to 'impose' Sanskrit in Anna University; no course is compulsory, says varsity
The DMK and the Left on Wednesday opposed a proposal by premier technical varsity, the state-run Anna University, to include philosophy in its syllabus for the engineering students, with MK Stalin saying it amounted to 'imposition' of Sanskrit

NASA says talking computers may become reality due to Sanskrit, claims Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal
Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Saturday claimed that the NASA has acknowledged that in future if speaking computers becomes a reality, it would be primarily due to the contribution of Sanskrit, the world's only scientific language

Subramanian Swamy writes to Venkaiah Naidu seeking termination of Vaiko's RS membership over anti-Hindi comments
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wrote to the Rajya Sabha chaiperson that Vaiko's remarks against the Hindi language are a gross violation of Article 351 of the Constitution.

India and the Indian: My nationalism competes with China, not Pakistan, writes Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
Our political life, lived around only village panchayats before 1950, is now connected to a larger constitutional democracy. In the future, this nationalist view will gain more prominence. The RSS nationalism will slowly but surely wither away.

HD Kumaraswamy urges Narendra Modi to recommend late Siddaganga Mutt seer’s name for Bharat Ratna
HD Kumaraswamy requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recommend the name of Sivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganaga mutt for 'Bharat Ratna' posthumously

The Girl with ‘Bright Thighs’
Erotic Love Poems from India amply demonstrate that Sanskrit literature is not retrograde or reactionary, and is equally the language of the play and dalliance of love

A Tale of Wonder: AND Haksar on translating Kathakautukam, a Sanskrit poem which speaks of longing for the divine
Kathakautukam is a Sanskrit adaptation of a Persian poem, written by the poet-scholar Srivara in 15th-century Kashmir. It tells the story of Princess Zuleikha’s steely determination and effort to find Yusuf, who is a well-known prophet in Christianity and Islam. Zuleikha is a metaphor for the soul searching for the divine, which is embodied by Yusuf

Found in translation: 100 Sanskrit verses
The recently released translation of 1,300-year-old Sanskrit erotic poetry offers us an opportunity to transcend our ‘pale moralising’

In the Absence of Writing: Astha Butail's new exhibition features installations inspired by ancient traditions of oral poetry
Astha Butail's exhibition is heavily inspired by her observations recorded during her study of the Indian Vedas, Zoroastrian Avesta and Jewish Oral Torah

Firstpost Editor's Picks: Mamata Banerjee's brazenness, ghost villages of Uttarakhand, Nandini Krishnan row; today's must-read stories
In his zest or nervousness, Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, it appears has shifted his loyalty to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee

Prayers at Kendriya Vidyalayas: Identifying Sanskrit with Hinduism puts many State-run institutions under scanner
The moot point is if reciting three sentences in Sanskrit followed by a prayer which only invokes the divinity without any specific reference to any Hindu deity amounts to imparting religious instructions.

SC refers PIL against Hindi hymns in Kendriya Vidyalayas to Constitution Bench; says 'religious instruction is of seminal importance'
The Supreme Court on Monday referred a PIL challenging the compulsory recitation of Sanskrit and Hindi hymns as 'morning prayers' of Kendriya Vidyalayas to a Constitution Bench.

Examining the evidence for ‘Aryan’ migrations into India: The story of our ancestors and where we came from
The ‘Aryans,’ it is now clear, migrated to India once upon a time. Just like everyone else. And there is nothing special or frightening about this fact.

Tulsidas’ great act of reconciliation: Bringing together of the human and the divine in the figure of Ram
Driven to take the story of Ram to a wider audience, Tulsidas spared no effort in popularising his masterful reworking of Valmiki’s Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas.