Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya believed that there was a need for an educational institution which could mould its students into noble and enlightened human beings; selfless, warm-hearted, compassionate and kind. To achieve these goals that he had set in his lifetime for radical change in the field of higher education, After he attained Samadhi in June 1990, his admirers and followers gave his vision action by establishing a university and naming it Dev Sanskriti. Acharya’s silent revolutionary movement is now well established as Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, which works with the primary motive of providing a confluence of modern education with the installation of human values in the students. The students are expected to follow a simple and spiritual lifestyle through which they receive benefits from both state-of-the-art facilities and the wisdom of ancient traditional practices. This allows the university to provide noble citizens who would channelize their efforts towards the goal of a divine and value-based society. The university was established in the year 2002 based on an act (22.01.2002) passed by the state legislature of Uttarakhand and is notified in the gazette vide notification no. (123/vidhayi & sansadiya karya/2002 dated 11.04.2002). The university is duly recognised by the University Grants Commission and is privately sponsored by Shri Vedmata Gayatri Trust, Shantikunj, a renowned socio-spiritual organization. The Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya remains devoted to its founding principles. This made the university an epitome of a moral and technical institute, and has very pertinently addressed the need of academia to have an institution that can extend solutions to modern-day problems with ancestral wisdom and can contribute to the building of the future of the country.
Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya is committed to:
- Advocating and upholding the fundamental values of Indian Culture with an aim of global cultural & spiritual renaissance.
- Advancing the intellectual, cultural and spiritual welfare of the students by reviving the education pattern of ancient times.
- Sustaining sentiments of patriotism and service to the society.
- Developing a new generation of professionals to spread the ancient Vedic wisdom.
- Working with established National and International institutes to enrich the educational quality and spiritual activities around the world.
- Maintaining High standards of ethics and quality in research, teaching and administration.
- The lush green campus is set in the Himalayan surroundings and is in the lap of nature on the bank of Ganga. The university has a well-equipped infrastructure in the form of an adequate number of lecture theaters with modern ICT facilities, laboratories, central and departmental libraries, auditoriums, sports and gym center, health center, amenities center, student and faculty cafeterias, fully Wi-Fi connectivity, adequate security arrangements, Yagyashala, herbal gardens, gaushala, multi-modal polyclinic, etc. It is a residential and non-affiliated university with co-education facilities having separate hostels for boys and girls along with a residential facility for all the faculty and supporting staff.
In addition to offering undergraduate, postgraduate, and post-doctoral programmes in a wide array of subjects such as Human Consciousness and Yogic Science, Psychology, Indian History and Culture, Theology, Computer Science and Application, Animation, Holistic Health, Tourism, Mathematics, Rural Entrepreneurship and Development, Environmental Science, Life Management, Scientific Spirituality, Languages, Education, Journalism and Mass Communication, etc., the university specialises in the character development of its students through fostering an uplifted lifestyle based on the spiritual practises of the east and the west. The result is well-rounded, as dynamic graduates are eager to channel their skills toward serving the needs of society.
The number of current faculty in the university is 119, out of which 66 possess Ph.D. degrees in different disciplines. More than 15,000 students, either through regular or via distance learning, have completed their education at the university. These students have come from different states of the country, reflecting the truly national character of the university. A unique feature of the university is seen in terms of Jeevandani (Life Donors) and Samaydani (Time Donors) karyakartas (volunteers) working as faculty and staff, and contributions made by socially conscious people through a unique process of Anshdan (PartDonation), which allows it to meet all its capital requirements and shortfall in revenue expenses. It has a provision to provide fellowships and scholarships to all economically disadvantaged students. It is worth mentioning that the university does not charge any tuition fees but only maintenance charges for the hostel, mess, library, laboratory, computers, etc. The internship programme is also one of the distinguishing features of the education at this university. This unique programme not only guarantees that students will apply what they have learned through the curriculum but also presents an opportunity for them to gain valuable career-related experience, make contacts in their chosen field, and better the world through their knowledge. An internship is compulsory for every course, and a special department of the university helps every student find an internship that suits his or her needs.
The university is funded solely by an international socio-spiritual organization, All World Gayatri Pariwar, which includes over 4,000 social reform and social service training centres and an international research institute dedicated to the study of scientific spirituality. Hundreds of programmes are being conducted by more than 5,00,000 volunteers worldwide in one of seven major areas of social reform. These include rural development, women’s empowerment, social reform, village autonomy, cultural revitalization, self-employment, and free health and free education for all. The movement as a whole is fuelled by the active participation of over 100 million members and has branches in more than 40 countries.
The university has achieved many accolades not only in India but also abroad. The university has international collaborations with esteemed international institutions in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, China, Poland, Latvia, Indonesia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Korea. The university is also the proud host of the world-famous annual International Festival of Yoga, Culture, and Spirituality. The research activities of the university are also appreciated at the international level, and the university proudly publishes a bi-annual international interdisciplinary journal called Dev Sanskriti. Two of the last five convocations of the university were presided over by the President of India, the most recent one in 2017. As a state-run private university, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya has reached unimaginable milestones in its short journey of over 20 years. The growth has been comprehensive with collaborative efforts. The university ensures that its vision is contained while also indigenously innovating with global thinking. This approach has allowed it to venture into erudite interdisciplinary research within and outside India, for which various global collaborative efforts are underway.