Banasthali Vidyapith aims at the synthesis of spiritual values and scientific achievements of both the East and the West. Its educational programme is based on the concept of "Panchmukhi Shiksha" and aims at all round harmonious development of person
aims at all round harmonious development of personality.
Emphasis on Indian culture and thought characterized by simple living and khadi wearing are hallmarks of life at Banasthali.
To realize a dream which he had cherished since his boyhood, Pandit Hiralal Shastri, the founding father of Banasthali Vidyapith, resigned his prestigious post of Secretary in the Home and Foreign Department in the erstwhile Jaipur State in 1927 and selected the remote village of Banthali (as Banasthali was originally called) as the centre of his life’s work. His plan was to organize a programme of rural reconstruction on the lines laid down by Gandhiji and also to train public workers through constructive service of the people.
While so engaged in his work Shastriji also wanted to train his promising daughter Shantabai as a social worker dedicated to the cause of women’s upliftment. But destiny ordained otherwise. All of a sudden, after a brief illness of a day, Shantabai bade farewell to Banasthali on 25th April, 1935 at the tender age of only 12 years. The loss seemed irreparable at the moment, but soon the mood of despondency gave way to a new hope. If one Shantabai had departed there were others who could be trained likewise. This idea gave solace and opened the path of action.
To complete the unfinished task of his daughter, the Shri Shantabai Shiksha Kutir was started in October 1935 in the mud huts provided by the Jiwan Kutir, with about half-a-dozen girls.
The name ‘Banasthali Vidyapith’ was adopted only in 1943. This also happened to be the year when undergraduate courses were first introduced. The institution was granted the status of a deemed university in 1983 by the UGC. Prof. Sushila Vyas , the first student of Banasthali Vidyapith was appointed the first Director of Vidyapith. The UGC committee which recommended the conferment of University status on the institution kept the following points in mind: (i) Vidyapith’s definite and viable programme for restructuring courses at the undergraduate level and its eagerness to carry out various measures to make education more meaningful and practical, (ii) availability of opportunities to the students to develop their personalities, and (iii) Vidyapith’s initiative to inculcate spiritual and moral values in the students through various activities, emphasizing character-building and simplicity. With its autonomous status, the institute could now experiment, innovate and formulate its own curriculum and other activities.
Under the tutelage of the Shastri family, Banasthali Vidyapith has grown from a school catering to only 6 students to the only residential women institute in the country that provides education to girls from the pre-primary stage up to the Doctoral level ( Date-Line of growth of Banasthali Vidyapith ) Banasthali Vidyapith has been accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with ‘A’ Grade (Five star Rating).
Banasthali Vidyapith has been conceptualized to materialize the ethos of nation-building and Indian Culture. Banasthali's whole architecture stands upon the twin foundation pillars of Nationalism and Indian Culture. Since its inception, Banasthali Vidyapith has had a clear perspective about its educational efforts and has possessed a vivid picture of the form and pattern of educational programme to be adopted.
The architects of the Vidyapith believed that an educational programme should be able to promote the development of a balanced and harmonious personality of the students. Hence, the educational programme of the Vidyapith was distinct from the form of education prevalent at that time which emphasized book learning to utter neglect of all other aspects of education. Banasthali Vidyapith’s aim of a full and balanced development of students' personality got concrete expression in the form of 'Panchmukhi Shiksha' which evolved out of initial experimentation.
Panchmukhi Shiksha attempts a balance of the five aspects of education, namely Physical, Practical, Aesthetic, Moral and Intellectual and aims at all round harmonious development of personality.
Synthesis of spiritual values and scientific achievements of the East and the West is a key feature of the Vidyapith’s educational programme. Simple living, self-reliance and khadi wearing are hallmarks of life at Banasthali.
The origin of Banasthali is unique in more ways than one. Banasthali Vidyapith owes its existence neither to the zeal of an educationist, nor to that of a social reformer. It is also not the creation of a philanthropist's purse. It has arisen like the fabled phoenix from the ashes of a blossoming flower Shanta Bai that had withered before its bloom. It is a spontaneous filling up of the vacuum caused by Shantabai's death. Here, love, eternal love has been the fountain head of all the thinking and action and this spirit has been the motivating force.
It was on October 6, 1935, Smt. Ratan Shastri and Pandit Hiralal Shastri (former secretary in the home and foreign department) found Banasthali to fill up the vacuum caused by the sudden death of their highly talented and promising daughter Shantabai. They had high expectations that she would work for women's cause when on growing up.
From its establishment in 1935, Banasthali has aimed at providing the girls with an education, which would enable them to secure a place of honour and equality in the society.
The vision and mission of Banasthali is to provide the girls not simply with general education but to enable them to compete on equal terms in a society.
Banasthali's work in the field of women's education has been of a special type. It can neither be classified as routine type of work nor a social type of work but a unique blending of the two.
Banasthali is deeply conscious of the crisis of values that marks the modern society. In its view, education is one of the potent instrument for trying to meet this crisis. Hence Banasthali's entire educational effort and program is focused on the need of creating a proper sense of values among the students. In this context it emphasizes a harmonious balance of the spiritual and scientific values of the East and the West. Simple and natural living and an attempt to strike a balance between individual freedom and social responsibility designed to achieve the above objectives.
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