Vedic Vidyalayas catch people’s fancy in Hindi belt

ALLAHABAD: Vedic Vidyalayas are emerging as the latest fad. This became apparent when around 400 children, aged between 9 and 11 years, came to Prayag (Allahabad) from across the country on Wednesday to take the entrance test for 25 seats in two such schools. Most of them were from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP.

Only 150 students had appeared in the test in Prayag last year. There are around 35 Vedic Vidyalayas in the country, with UP accounting for eight of them. Prayag and Haridwar have two schools while Kashi, Mathura, Ayodhya, Rishikesh and Lucknow have one each. Vedic schools have also been set up in Manipur, Kolkata, Jammu, Pune, Amrawati and Pushkar.

These vidyalayas are run jointly by Vishwa Ved Sansthan (an organ of Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and Maharshi Ved Vyas Pratisthan (Pune) and offer a seven-year course in Vedas. The academic session of Vedic Vidyalayas in Prayag will begin in the last week of July.

Shubham Tripathi, who had brought his son from Jaipur for the test, said, "Two years back, yoga was not too popular but today International Yoga Day is being celebrated across the world. Same is the case with Vedic education."

Pranav Pandy, who too brought his son Saurabh from Delhi said, "Entrance test was both written and oral. The results will be announced on July 20. I will be happy if my son is selected."

Maharshi Bhardwaj Ved Vedang Shikshan Kendra, Prayag, principal Acharya Pankaj Sharma said, "Many western universities offer graduate level courses in Vedas, Sanskrit, Hindu philosophy, yoga, ayurveda, jyotish and medicines. Meritorious students get a worldwide exposure as various universities are on the lookout for such students. Demand for acharyas and experts is on the rise in western countries."