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Higher Education and Research in Prakrits & Jainology
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Developments
With the increasing interest in higher education and research in Prakrits and Jainology many new developments have been made during later half of the present century. Some areas of higher studies and research have been clearly located. It has been realised that Prākrits and Jainology have vast scope for interdisciplinary studies in many branches of Humanities and Social Sciences. As already stated above, scholars have detected materials of high importance relating to natural sciences and life-sciences too. Works on Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, Astrology have been done. A brief account of the development will be helpful for perspective planning, and to the researcher interested in this Faculty of learning.
The role of Seminars, Confernces, Summer-schools, Workshops etc in focussing the importance of Prākrits and Jainology proved to be of great signficance. Sessions of All-India Oriental Conference and introduction of an independent section of Prakrit and Jainism' in it, is of historical importance. Right down from the Kashmir valley session (1961) to the Gauhati session in Assam and the Silver Jubilee Session (1969) at Jadavpur, West Bengal, we can see the increase in the number of participants in the Section of Prākrit and Jainism. To my pleasure, I had the opportunity to attend all these sessions. Further increase could be seen in the latest session at Jaipur (1982).
U. G. C. Seminars organ sed at the Shivaji Univeresity, Kolhapur (1968), University of Poona (1969), Magadh University, Bodbgaya, University of Udaipur (1973), Gujarat University, Ahemdabad (1973) and Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidalaya, Varanasi (1981) proved to be of greater values. Seminars at Ujjain, Mysore and Patiala also deserve mention.
Among other academic organisations the role of Jainological Research Society deserves special mention. The first Summer School at Saugor (M. P.) in 1969 and the first National Conference at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi in 1973, were most significant. Sessions of Jaina Darshan Parishad and some other academic societies helped in bringing together scholars, ascetics and house-holders who could work for these studies.
The recommendations of the U. G. C. Seminars mentioned above drew attention of the commission, and the universities were asked if they
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