City College | Kolkata | Department - Sanskrit

About the Department

Brief History: The department of Sanskrit is one of the oldest department of City College. It started functioning from the year 1884. From the very commencement, its students headed the B.A. (Hons.) list in the Calcutta University in English, History & Sanskrit. Till now the department of this college is going on smoothly with Honours and General students per year. Some of the eminent ex-teachers of this department are Prof Dr. Murari Mohan Bhattacharya, Prof Dr. Alpana Goswami among many others. Apart from that, many guest lecturers joined in our department and taught our departmental students for many years.

Present full-time faculty members are: Dr. (Mrs.) Madhumita Deb Roy (Barman), Ms. Aradhana Murmu, Dr. Rupali Murmu and SACT faculty members are - Smt. ShampaBasu, Smt. Anamika Mukherjee and Sri Subhadeep Roy.

Teaching Method & Activities:

Apart from the lecture method, we advocate the practice of learner centric teaching methods. Thus, students are encouraged to arrange short seminars and to take part in group discussions. Sometimes we used ICT tools for effective teaching.
We provide online classes alongwith offline classes to help slow learners. After completing the syllabus, we also arrange more offline classes for our students to make them understand syllabus well.
We have arranged Value Added Course in our department. Students have got benefited by doing this course. We have arranged many Seminars in our department occasionally. Students also presented their papers in the Seminars.
In spite of that, we do Educational Excursion occasionally for our students. It helps them to get acquainted with their syllabus.

Faculty Member’s Participation: The faculty members are constantly participating in Seminar, Short Term Courses and Workshops organized by the colleges and universities under U.G.C.

Subject's Outcome: If we want to explore the ancient India, we must have to learn Sanskrit. Modern Scholars think that emergence of Rigveda, the oldest literature of Indo-European language group, is probably in 1500 BC. Rikveda along with other three Vedas are written in Vedic Language, has been continued up to 6th Century BC. After that this Vedic Language has been converted into Classical Sanskrit Language.

In ancient time, literature, culture, social custom, law, litigation, religion etc were written in Sanskrit Language. Famous great grammarian Panini of 4th century BC. has written his famous grammar book Ashtadhyayi in Sanskrit language. He wrote sutras in Sanskrit Language in such a beautiful way, that till now the importance of this language is acceptable to all. After Vedic period, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Purana also are written in Sanskrit Language. After that, many renowned Sanskrit writers like Bhasa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Banabhatta etc have written their famous kavyas and dramas in Sanskrit Language. Apart from these, there are many Sastras which are written by many eminent Scholars in this language.

We must learn Sanskrit very well to know about the flavour of our country. During British rule, three Universities have been established for expansion of higher education. Kolkata University is amongst them. Sanskrit language is taught in master’s degree course alongwith other subjects there. Now Sanskrit is taught in Honours and General stream in undergraduate Colleges and master’s degree course can be done in Sanskrit in Universities. Toll system also is there to learn Sanskrit to get Shastri and Acharya degree. There are many Sanskrit Universities in different parts of India where toll system has been introduced. Students who have passed Higher Secondary Examination can take admission in Sanskrit in Undergraduate Colleges.UGC has arranged 2 types of NET Examination system for those candidates also who have got Shastri and Acharya degree. After achieving masters or Acharya degree, students should pass NET for teaching in any College or University of India. Students can get Junior Research Fellowship if they crack NET. They can earn 6 lakhs yearly as UGC Fellowship if they get chance in NET. After getting masters or Acharya degree, they can do research in any subject throughout the World. Sanskrit students can do research in various aspects like South Asian study, ancient Theology, comparative Mythology, Linguistics, Indology in various Universities and Research Institutes. Students can do research in Vedic Literature, Sanskrit Literature, Dramaturgy, Indian philosophy like Nyaya, Sankhya, Yoga etc, Grammar, Linguistics, Manuscriptology, Inscription, Ayurveda and Vastu Sastra.

Student's Future: Sanskrit Honours General both Students can take admission in Government approved master’s degree Colleges and UGC approved Universities. This subject is taught in different Colleges in Kolkata, Howrah, South 24 Parganas and Colleges under Calcutta University and other Universities. Students can do Master’s degree, M.Phil and Ph.D in Sanskrit most of all Universities in West Bengal and outside of West Bengal.

After Graduation in Sanskrit, anyone who is interested to teach in school, can do B.Ed. Or they can sit for State or Central Government approved Civil Service Examination. Sanskrit Language can be taken as optional subject in Public Service Commission and Central Government approved UPSC Examination. Anyone who is interested to be an IAS Officer, can opt for Sanskrit as one of the subject for cracking WBCS Exam or UPSC Exam as Sanskrit is a very much scoring subject. Sohe can have the Opportunity to get more marks in Sanskrit than other subjects. These two types of Competitive Examination syllabus are allied with master’s degree syllabus of UGC approved Universities. Apart from this, one can get professor post in College Service Commission or Public Service Commission after doing higher studies in Sanskrit. Anyone can get Central Government job in Museum or Tourism after passing Sanskrit. He can join as a Sanskrit Translator in Government based Judiciary. If anyone do master’s degree in Sanskrit, he can get job of a librarian in Manuscript section or in Archaeology Department. Students can sit for any type of competitive Examination like Railway, Bank or any other Corporate Sector after passing Sanskrit in UG or PG.

Overview:

Names of Programmes/Courses offered: B.A. Undergraduate Honours & B.A. Undergraduate General.
Annual/Semester/Choice-based Credit System (Programme-wise): Semester with Choice-based Credit System.
Details of Courses/Programmes discontinued (if any with reasons): No courses have been discontinued.

Ex-Teachers:

Prof. Dr. Murari Mohan Bhattacharya
Prof. Dr. Alpana Goswami

Infrastructure:
We have enriched departmental Seminar Library. Around 200 books of various types are there in the departmental library. Students get sufficient reference books for developing their study materials from the library.

Distinctiveness:

Value Added Course: We have arranged spoken Sanskrit course in our department. Students have got benefited by doing this course.
Seminars: We have arranged many seminars in our department occasionally. Students also presented their papers in the seminars.
Two out of six faculty members are with Ph.D. and twoare pursuing for Ph.D.
Student Mentoring System: We help our students academically as well as in Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities also.
Evaluation System: We conduct Continuous Evaluation System by takingoral and Written test in the Class.
Parent-Teachers Meeting: We conduct parent-Teachers meeting in every academic session.

Best Practices:

Special care for slow learners.
Continuous evaluation of all students.
Use of ICT tools.
Individual Mentoring.
Regular Field Visit.
Regular Assessments.