Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit

Rabindranath Tagore in his education system had introduced Sanskrit as a compulsory subject in academic curriculum since the inception of Brahmacharya Vidyalaya at Santiniketan in 1901. In the formative period of Visva Bharati the root of Sanskritic Studies was nourished by luminous scholars like Bidhusekher Sastri, Kshiti Mohan Sen, Sylvan Levei, Maurice Winternitz etc.
Vidya Bhavana came into being from 8th Poush, 1332 (in the last week of December 1925) with Pandit Bidhusekhar Sastri as its Principal. It offered various subjects including Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit for various Degrees. Vidya Bhavana was more considered as a research institution with wide ramification. In 1972 when all the Bhavanas were restructured, Vidya Bhavana became a Faculty of Arts with 15 Departments including Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit. The Department came under the newly formed Bhasha Bhavana in 2011.
The core teaching of Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit was accorded the status of a separate and full-fledged Department in 1951 when Visva Bharati was christened as a Central University and an Institution of National Importance. It offers Under-Graduate, Post Graduate, M.Phil., Ph. D., Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, One Year Course for Foreign Students and other Research Programmes etc. in Sanskrit, Pali & Prakit. The Department introduced Semester system in B.A. (Honours) and M.A. level from 2011-12 session. The Department also introduced M.Phil. course in 2014.