The knowledge, teaching and direction of the eminent scholarship of Prof. Shiv Narayan Shastri, the renown of Dr. Ravi Shankar Nagar and Dr. Laxmi Chandra Acharya, laid the foundation of, and provided the inspiration for the Sanskrit Department and now it has come to occupy a prominent place in the academic discourse of Kirori Mal College. Any Department is what its faculty and students make it
out to be. They play a prominent role in achieving the pinnacle by their constant efforts. Sanskrit has a very important role in defining India's cultural heritage and it has been a constant endeavor of our Department to help, encourage and discover this cultural heritage. Unfortunately, due to some historical quirks and certain pre-conceived misconceptions and prejudices about its future career prospects, Sanskrit is being increasingly sought by students only as a last resort. This is seen as a challenge by the Department, which seeks to transform Sanskrit as an option of the first resort. The students coming from disadvantaged and weak socio-economic backgrounds, are nurtured by the encouragement provided by the Department. They are given capabilities and confidence. This is the reason why they compete and excel against the students who have had far better educational opportunities and are part of the so called "elite programmes". They take part in Union Elections, N.C.C., N.S.S., Sports meets, and are part of MUSOC, DEBSOC, Theatre, Dance and various other Societies. They compete not only intra college but also inter college Speech, Debate, Painting, Sanskrit Verse Recitation and Quiz Competitions. Every year several students are awarded Scholarships and Prizes from Sanskrit Academy and Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. The Department has been organizing, from its inception, Inter-College Speech, Debate, Vedic Mantra Recitation, Verse Recitation, Drawing and Quiz Competitions under the aegis of Sanskrit Parishad and Sanskrit Seminar. The Department has also been organizing ten days Sanskrit Sambhashan Shivir through Sanskrit Bharati. This unique Shivir is open to all the students of the University, Colleges, which gives a chance for the students to interact and which helps in cross pollination of ideas and promotion of Sanskrit Language. In other words, the Department helps in holistic personality development of students, making them a better human being and professionals. It shows in the results and the students of the Department have attained very high positions in the Society. Sanskrit Department is proud to have several well-known Journalists, Administrators, Lawyers, Bureaucrats, Professors, Teachers, Business Persons, Politicians, amongst its Alumni. The Challenge is to take this good work forward and constantly work in the direction of popularization of Sanskrit as a language of common discourse and help to rediscover its lost glory.
