Sacred teachings

In Kanya Gurukul, located at Panchgaon, a small village near Bhiwani, girls are given
knowledge from the Upanishads and the Vedas, says Dev Brat Vashisth

Bhiwani has the privilege to be called ‘Mathura of Haryana’ as there are more then 350 temples in and around this district. It also has two gurukuls—one each for girls and boys. The boys’ gurukul is in Bhiwani city and the gurukul for girls called Kanya Gurukul is at Panchgaon, a tiny and sleepy village, 40 km from Bhiwani.

The gurukul for boys, known as Shri Haryana Sekhawati Brahmcharya Ashram, was founded by Sanskrit scholar Vidya Martand Pandit Sita Ram Shastri in 1912. Kanya Gurukul was founded by Mansa Ram in 1945.

Kanya Gurukul started regular functioning in 1948. In the beginning, it was difficult to persuade people to send their daughters to this school. Mansa Ram was an illiterate. He was taught at home by his uncle. He could read some religious books only. In 1945 he came in contact with Haryana’s well-known Arya Samaj activist, Acharya Bhagwan Dev (Swami Oma Nand Saraswati), founder of Haryana’s gurukul at Jhajjar. Subsequently, Mansa Ram donated his 70-bigha land to Kanya Pathshala (presently Kanya Gurukul).

Inspired by the noble deed of his friend, Mange Ram Dalal also donated building material and a large quantity of cattle fodder. Since rains were scanty and the irrigation system was poor, this region always faced famine-like conditions. It was difficult to collect money by donation from villagers.

Water was the main problem since the level was very deep. Later, this problem was solved by a philanthropist of the region, Choudhry Lok Ram Mandhiwal, who decided to construct a well. His son, Atar Singh, former MLA, got the well constructed.

In the beginning they had to work hard and persuade people to send their girls to school for primary education. In the initial stage, there were only 10 to 15 girls in the school. After a few years the state government granted sanction up to the middle class. It was compulsory to stay in the school hostel and observe sandhya and havana, as well as physical exercise daily. Religious and Sanskrit education was compulsory for all. Nominal food charges were taken from the students. In 1955 Kanya Gurukul was closed due to a financial crisis.

Some anti-social elements took away whatever goods they could find in the school. They managed to occupy the school land by fictitious girdawaris. Later, social activists managed to free the land. In 1978 the school started functioning again. To overcome the financial crisis, a few life members were enrolled. Soon it was upgraded up to the middle level, and girls from nearby villages began to attend classes.

A fully functional hostel was soon constructed in the vast premises of the gurukul. At present there are 225 girl students staying in the school hostel. Besides, there is a staff of 12 women teachers and eight other workers. Kanya Gurukul is affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

It imparts quality education to children in Sanskrit, Hindi and English. Upanishads and Vedas form part of the course. Other subjects taught include grammar, history, geography, mathematics, science, home science and crafts. All the students staying on the school campus also devote one hour for manual labour daily.

The school has 17 cows. Milk is provided to all students free of cost. The fodder for the cattle is grown in the vast gurukul premises. There is also a big yagyashala with a sitting capacity of more than 400 people.

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