Mysore/Mysuru: Maintaining that widespread anguish against continued British hegemony and colonialisation and the far-reaching vision of the erstwhile Mysore Maharajas paved the way for the establishment of University of Mysore (UoM), Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi said that the UoM should carry forward the rich legacy left by the Mysore rulers.
Delivering the Foundation Day address at Crawford Hall here this morning, he stated that it is a matter of great delight for him to be among the University faculty and students on the occasion of the 106th Foundation Day of this prestigious Varsity founded by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.
TN Governor Ravi said that everyone should pay tribute to Nalwadi for his yeoman service to Mysuru and mankind.
Pointing out that it is important to understand the mind of the person (Nalwadi) who created the University, Ravi said that Nalwadi, feeling the pulse of the people who were deeply frustrated and anguished at the British, who propagated white supremacy, wasted no time in setting up the Mysore University for imparting education with a sense of Indianness.
“Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar has left us with a rich and resourceful legacy, for which we should be always grateful to him. The Maharaja sensed setting up of the University for imparting higher education keeping in mind Indian arts, music and other fields, at a time when British were portraying India as a despicable country,” he said.
The Maharaja also thought it fit to establish a University in Mysore, the first one outside British India, as students in Mysore region were facing a lot of difficulty in going to Madras for higher education, Ravi said and added that UoM has grown by leaps and bounds over the years while maintaining a steady growth and providing a conducive atmosphere for studies.
Delving on the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) introduced by the Union Government, Ravi said that we have to look at it in a broader perspective and understand it much better. Stressing for a thorough study of NEP, he said we must appreciate the thinking and concepts behind it. UoM has the potential to become a much bigger National Centre of Excellence by introducing the characteristics of the NEP, he opined.
UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar said that the University, which was established on July 27, 1916, is celebrating the 106th Foundation Day, which is a matter of pride for the University. Stressing on the need for everyone to remember Nalwadi, he said that the contributions of Nalwadi remains unmatched and as such Mahatma Gandhi had called him Rajarshi. Contending that every step of Nalwadi was a milestone of progress, the VC said that the people of the entire State should be ever grateful to the erstwhile ruler for all his contributions, including the establishment of the University, which was supported by the then Dewan of Mysore Sir M. Visvesvaraya.
Titular head of erstwhile Mysore royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who was the chief guest, said he was very much delighted to be a part of this glorious day. “It was Mummadi, the grandfather of Nalwadi who sowed the seeds of an institution of higher learning with the establishment of the then Raja School in Mysore in the 19th century. Nalwadi, realising the importance of establishing an institute of higher education, set up the UoM, which today stands as the first University outside British India and the sixth of the country. It is the farsighted vision of the legendary Nalwadi,” he pointed out.
Yaduveer also observed that it is a matter of coincidence that the current Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State) Governor R.N. Ravi has delivered the Foundation Day address of the University established by Nalwadi, as a mark of tribute to Jayachamaraja Wadiyar who served as Governor of Madras (1964 to 1966).
Earlier, the dignitaries offered floral tributes to the portrait of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. UoM Registrar Prof. R. Shivappa and others were present at the lecture programme.
What a dick head this Ravi is! This university was created by Sir MV, who liked the British puncuality, quality of education and many called him the turbaned Englishman, as he represented all that was British then including the recognition of merit only. As for Nalwadi, he was taught by Fraser, a British tutor ( the Fraser town was named after him), and Nalwadi exuded the British attitude of recognising merit.
This Ravi is just a bigoted politico, licking the shoes of his political masters.
Now this is caste-infested and corrupt cesspool of an institution!
What a dick head this Ravi is! This university was created by Sir MV, who liked the British punctuality, quality of education and many called him the turbaned Englishman, as he represented all that was British then including the recognition of merit only. As for Nalwadi, he was taught by Fraser, a British tutor ( the Fraser town was named after him), and Nalwadi exuded the British attitude of recognising merit.
This Ravi is just a bigoted politico, licking the shoes of his political masters.
Now this is caste-infested and corrupt cesspool of an institution!
Correction: punctuality
Sir MV just happened to be the Dewan at that time. Long before that Mysore already had Maharaja’s Collge at Mysore and Central College at Bangalore providing higher education in Arts and science. Even People like Rajaji studied here. It was just that the examination was being held under Madras University Rules. It was people like Harcourt Butler who as the first Member for Education with a seat on the Viceroy’s Executive Council paved the way for more universities to be set up. That is how BHU and Aligarh University etc were also established in India and in fact KRW IV was the Chancellor of BHU even before he became Chancellor of UOM.
All the anguish etc that TN Governor blabbers is crap. Yuvaraja had sent people like C.R. Reddy to America and Thomas Denham to Australia etc to study the universities and give a blue print for UOM. People like H.V. Nanjundiah also did yeoman service to give a shape to the University . Madras university was reluctant let go Mysore but had no choice as Mr. Butler and Sir Hugh Daly were in full support of mysore’s cause.
@Raja Chandra
I understand what you are saying, and agree with you. But, it required an ‘action man’ like Sir MV to overcome the hurdles -there were many to establish the UOM.
You conveniently forget that though Maharajas ruled Mysore, the British power base in the South was in Madras( Chennai), from the East India Company days,; colleges like the Presidency College which had English professors held the sway in so far as university education was concerned in the states of Mysore, Madras and Kerala.
You are forgetting that Maharaja’s and Central College academic models were built on the English university model-like the colleges in Oxford/ Cambridge. BA ( Hons) and BSc ( Hons) degree were the norm for merit -based entrants . through the Intermediate course route.
Australia never had a good university system-even today, it has just 2 universities in the top 100 of world ranking. At that time Australia was still a penal colony of Britain absorbing the British criminals who were deported there. Hence, thinking of Australia as the land of quality university education then is sheer nonsense at best!
Rajaji was born in Hosur, just a short distance from Bangalore , and hence it was convenient for him to study at the Central College.
As for US university models, the Central and Maharaja’s colleges, did not copy them, as US universities simply had undergraduate and Graduate ( post graduate) set of degrees, not the honours degrees mentioned above, which British universities still award and follow the same academic pattern. You are forgetting that there was Intermediate Course, prior to these honours degree courses. The US did not and does not have this course, and hence their undergraduate degree courses had longer years .
The university structure in US has been very different from the British counterpart for decades , since it gained independence. The president and the provost combination -the former as administrative head, and the latter as academic head under the president, have been unique dual hierarchical structure. UOM and other universities in India copied the British model on one university head-the VC. The team that went to US as you suggest did not copy the US university structure. Alo, the local colleges established followed the British model of higher education and had no powers to award their own degrees-just affiliates of the universities like the UOM. In USA, this has been very different.
It is insulting to belittle the effort of Sir MV, it required person of his stature to establish the UOM. Nanjundiah was a mere administrator, and did not have Sir MV’s clout with the Viceroy’s team that the poster suggested above.
Sir MV’s model was to encourage science and engineering higher education in Bangalore -Central College and the engineering college he established there ( now UVCE), as there was IISC coming up then. Sir MV foresaw Bangalore as the main industrial city with scientific and engineering expertise available there. The Maharaja’s College was meant for humanities education. The Mysore Medical College which was established was on the model of medical education at Edinburgh which was like Mysore, a calm and serene city those days.
Finally, the degrees like the MA under universities like the UOM, and indeed in many other universities including the Madras University ,were in-depth research-oriented courses. Sir CV Raman gained this MA degree and he had no PhjD-again non-American, but typically British; the DSc for science research work through publications., and DLitt for arts for similar track record were awarded for the scholar concerned. Kuvempu was a MA and a Dlitt for example. Hence, one could see the in both Sir CV |Raman and Kuvempu , the excellence through their works of erudition.