From maths to the wandering mind: What IKS centers are studying

Over 50 IKS centres have come up across education institutions and non-profits to lead research on Indian Knowledge Systems. Here’s what they are studying

- Shradha Chettri

A portal on an understanding of health derived from over 250 non-Ayurvedic Sanskrit texts; research on management of infertility through Ayurveda and yoga, while employing machine learning and AI to predict treatment outcomes; showcasing the impact of yoga on mental health and cognitive functioning; and a study of mathematical concepts derived from the Puranas – the repository of Indian Knowledge System (IKS) being build in higher educational institutions of the country will include these and more.

“Bharatiya Jnana Parampara Vibhaga” – IKS division – an important project of the ministry of education, was launched in October 2020. A one-day workshop on research in Indian traditional knowledge in March that year had led to its creation.

Housed in premises of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the division first invited proposals from educational institutions for establishing IKS Research Centres (Gaveshana), IKS Teacher Training Centres (Shikshaka Prashikshanam), and IKS Bhasha Kendras to conduct research.

Later, the University Grants Commission (UGC) drafted guidelines asking educational institutions to start IKS courses and permitted 5% of the credits at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels to be earned on these IKS courses.

Now, two years since the grants were made, several institutions received research grants, many are ready with their projects.

IKS Research Centres