Jaiminiya Samaveda Gurukula established

[Guest guest]

Hindu News Headlines for May 30, 2002

VHP helps scholars of a Sanskrit chanting legacy start new school

2002-05-30 Published by Hinduism Today Gathered by Staff Reporter

 

TRIVANDRUM,MAY 30: The ancient Jaiminiya Sama Vedic tradition, a

Sanskrit chanting system practiced in the South Indian state of

Kerala long ago, is on the verge of extinction. There are only a few

scholars alive today who are qualified to teach the recitation of the

Vedas in this obscure method, and they reside only in certain parts

of Kerala and at Thiruvaiyuru in Tamil Nadu's Tanjavur district. Of

these experts there are said to be only five who can chant in this

system perfectly without error, and they are all in their late

seventies. These five masters are the teachers at a new Veda Vidya

Peetham, a school established by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to pass on

Vedic knowledge to children in the Panjal village of Kerala's

Thrissur district.Classes at the new school are taught in the oral

tradition, as they have been from ancient times. According to the

school secretary, their aim is to creat the "atmosphere of the age-

old gurukul tradition," and no corporal punishment is used. On the

school grounds are a main building, library and residential

accommodations for students. At present, less than ten children

attend. Commenting on the new peetham, his Holiness, Sankaracharya of

Kanchi Kamakodipeetham, Jagat Guru Jayendra Saraswathi said, "I am

proud of Kerala for two things: One, it is the land of Adi Sankara.

The other is that it is the home of the rare Jaiminiya Sama Veda

tradition, still preserved today for our country."