Professor Satyavarta Shastri lights the lamp to inaugurate the seminar in Ranchi; (below) guests at the venue. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, July 16: As part of Ranchi University’s golden jubilee celebrations, the varsity organised a three-day seminar on ‘Contribution of Sanskrit language in the materialistic development of India’.

Speaking on the first day today, chief guest Satyavrat Shastri, winner of Padmabushan and Gnanpith awards and a renowned Sanskrit scholar of the country said in his keynote address: “Sanskrit is India’s identity, and the only complete language in the world. The language is most apt and scientific and has contributed a lot to the entire human civilisation. From ancient times till today, it has kept the country spiritually rooted.”

Notably, today’s inaugural session was conducted entirely in Sanskrit.

Inaugurating the seminar, A.A. Khan, the varsity’s vice-chancellor said: “Language is the identity of humanity. But it is sad that not much thought is given to the inter-connectedness of languages. Modern languages like Hindi, Arabic and English have their roots in Sanskrit. This seminar on the sanskrit language is a wonderful beginning by our university. Sanskrit is our identity.”

The three-day seminar, which is organised by the varsity’s Sanskrit department, will conclude on July 18.

Authorities have divided the seminar into four distinct sessions, with the second and third sessions to be held tomorrow.

On tomorrow’s agenda are panel discussuions around the utility of the ancient language in contemporary times.

An entertaining Sanskrit kavi sammelan is also on the cards.

The concluding session, to be presided over by the pro-vice-chancellor V.P. Sharan, will be graced by Sanskrit stalwarts like Bramhachari Surendra Kumar and Harishankar Pandey.

Chandrakant Shukla, head of Sanskrit department at Ranchi University lamented that Sanskrit did not feature high on the wish-list of aspiring students today.

Commenting on the decline of interest in Sanskrit among students, Chandrakant Shukla, said: “Unfortunately, there are only a few students of Sanskrit in the universities of Jharkhand and Bihar. Vocational courses are the craze among today’s youths. But, it is a fact that ‘knowledge technology’, which our former president A.P.J Abdul Kalam often talks about, can only be achieved through a thorough learning of Sanskrit.”

He added that the seminar’s core objective was to create consciousness among young minds about the contemporary utility of this ancient language.

Among those present on the inaugural day of the seminar were Acharya Kunal Kishore, chairman of the Bihar State Religious Trust and Dev Pujari, national president of Samskrita Bharati, an organisation with headquarters in New Delhi, devoted to the development of the ancient language.