BENGALURU: Students and staffers of Bangalore University located off Mysore Road will soon have a dedicated centre for meditation. The centre which will be named after Gautam Buddha will be located inside the Jnana Bharathi campus. The decision has been taken considering the need of mental peace among the students and rising demand of yoga and meditation classes. Even non-varsity students and public will be allowed to make use of this centre, said an official.
“The meditation centre is planned on the campus situated adjacent to Ambedkar Study Centre in 5 acres of land. It will be able to accommodate over 5,000 people together. Our main aim is to ensure mental peace for our students. However, even staff and other public can make use of this centre for free,” said Prof KR Venugopal, vice-chancellor of BU.
Currently, the university is offering diploma and postgraduate courses in yoga. “The demand for yoga course is increasing every year. Students who are pursuing yoga course had also requested us for a meditation centre,” added Venugopal.
In a recent case, a male student was caught roaming around the girls’ hostel in half naked condition during night hours. He was thrashed by the home guards deployed on the premises. Later, the student was referred to NIMHANS for treatment where he was recommended for counselling sessions along with regular meditation and yoga classes.
“The incident forced us to discuss the importance of mental stability and peace among students. We later decided to set up a meditation centre so that students can go there during morning or evening hours and meditate for better mental health,” said another senior varsity official.