KOCHI: The devaswom department in association with Guruvayur Devaswom will establish a ‘vedapadasala’, an institute of national stature to impart quality education in Vedic studies, tantric rituals, mural painting and temple arts, said Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan.“The vedapadasala will follow traditional gurukula style of learning where the students will be taught poojas, Puranas and history,” Radhakrishnan told TNIE as part of ‘Express Dialogues’ series.
“We have an ambitious plan to develop the institute into a deemed university where researchers from across the country and abroad can join,” said Radhakrishnan.“We had convened a meeting of all five devaswom boards to discuss the project. A project report has been submitted and we are in the process of preparing a detailed project report. We have to finalise the syllabus also,” the minister said.Guruvayur Devaswom chairman V K Vijayan said the vedapadasala will be established using the devaswom’s fund. “The residential institute will be under our administration,” he said.
“The aim is to provide quality education in tantric rituals and traditional Kerala temple arts, including percussion arts. It will be known as Guruvayurappan Institute for Vedic and Cultural Studies and will follow the ‘gurukula style’ of learning. There will be only four or five students in a batch for each course. It will take some time as we have to identify the land and construct buildings. The plan is to establish an institute on the lines of the Himalayan Institute of cultural and Heritage Studies in Shimla. We will try to get central funding also,” he said.
The plan is to provide fellowship to research scholars and attract researchers from across the country for post-doctoral studies.“It will not be another institute meant to provide degree certificates. The institute will have the dignity, reputation and grace of a national centre of excellence,” said V K Vijayan.