Gurukul

A Gurukul (Guru refers to "teacher" or "master"; Kul refers to his domain, from the Sanskrit word kula, meaning extended family.) is a type of ancient Hindu school in India that is residential in nature with the shishyas or students and the guru or teacher living in proximity, many a time within the same house.^[1] The Gurukul is the place where the students resided together as equals, irrespective of their social standing. The students learn from the guru and help the guru in his day-to-day life, including the carrying out of mundane chores such as washing clothes, cooking, etc.

The guru-shishya parampara is a hallowed tradition in Hinduism. Other religious groups in India have adapted it into different forms that fall within their religious ideology and framework such as Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. At the end of a shishya's (student) study, the student offers a "guru dakshina," since a guru does not take fees. A guru dakshina is the final offering from a student to the guru before leaving the ashram.

By the colonial era the Gurukul system was almost dead in India excepting in a few remote regions. An exception was Kerala where the warrior Nair clan and their own military Gurukuls called Kalaris.^{[citations needed]}

Recently, several gurukuls have begun, both driven by monetary gain and by a desire to uphold the traditions. Examples of these new schools are Ananda Marga Gurukula established by Ananda Marga in 1990 at Anandanagar (India) with a network of branches in scores of countries around the world.^[2] It is not a religious school in Hindu tradition but rather a secular academic institution based on universal spiritual principles. Vivekananda College near Madurai is an NAAC -accredited `A' grade autonomous college that is run under a Gurukula system.^[3]

There are many Vedic Gurukulas in modern India which follow ancient tradition. Government of India provides financial and other help to Vedic teachers who establish such Vedic gurukulas for imparting Vedic education without asking for any fees from the students ; the leading government institution offering such assistance is Sândipani in Ujjain, named after the guru of Krishna, which also helps Vedic gurukulas in preparing students for examinations held by recognized Sanskrit universities.^{[citations needed]} (Another Fact,April 2008 ).

In India and other parts of World, Gurukul ^[4]is becoming synonym for Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul, a socio-spiritual, non profit organization with over 14 branches and centers, head branch at Gurukul Rajkot.

In Andhra Pradesh, the first attempt of expanding the Gurukul Tradition was made at Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Hyderabad by Sadguru Shri Devprasaddasji Swami.

In Karnataka, there are some projects run to rejuvenate the ancient Indian education system. Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Bangalore(http://www.swaminarayan-gurukul.org/), Prabodhini Gurukula(http://prabodhinigurukula.org), Maitreyi Gurukulam and Vedavijnana Gurukulam(http://vvgurukulam.org) are the major ones. Shubham Karoti and Om Shantidhama are also in the similar lines, which are near Bangalore, capital of Karnataka.

In Mayapur (West Bengal, India) a Gurukula project-which has been in operation since the 70's, is rejuvenating the ancient Gurukula system and providing students with a system of traditional education and values.

References

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