Vice-Chancellor
Prof. (Dr.) Ina Aditya Shastri leads the academic and administrative affairs of the Vidyapith.
About
Ninety years of the Panchmukhi Shiksha.
Banasthali Vidyapith is India's largest fully residential university for women — 850 acres, 31 hostels, 13 faculties. Founded in 1935 as a memorial to a daughter, run since as a gurukul at university scale.
Our story
A gurukul that became a university.
In 1935, following the death of their twelve-year-old daughter Shantabai, Pandit Hiralal Shastri and Shrimati Ratan Shastri founded a small residential school on the Aravalli plain — a memorial in the form of an institution for other daughters. The curriculum was crafted from a Vedic ideal that had fallen out of Indian education: the child taught in five dimensions at once — Sharirik (body), Praanik (breath), Manasik (mind), Bauddhik (intellect) and Chaaritrik (character).
Nine decades on, the institution has grown into a deemed-to-be university with seventeen thousand women on campus — but the five-fold ideal remains what it was: not a plaque on the wall, but the timetable. Every student rises at 5:45 for physical education. Every student reads Sanskrit. Every student spends a rotation on the farm, at the hospital and in the kitchens.
The founders
Pandit Hiralal Shastri (1899–1974), first Chief Minister of Rajasthan, and Shrimati Ratan Shastri (1902–1988), Padma Shree, founded Banasthali as a memorial to Shantabai.
Milestones
Ninety years, in six moments.
1935
A gurukul takes shape
Founded by Pandit Hiralal Shastri and Shrimati Ratan Shastri as a memorial to their daughter Shantabai — a small residential school on the Aravalli plain.
1943
The Panchmukhi Shiksha becomes doctrine
The five-fold ideal — body, breath, mind, intellect and character — becomes the timetable rather than a motto.
1962
College begins
The first cohort of undergraduate women enrols — the college is founded on the same acres as the school.
1983
Deemed to be University
The Government of India confers deemed-to-be-university status. The airfield, radio licence and stables follow through the eighties.
2005
The 850-acre campus
The Vidyapith consolidates its residential campus at scale — 31 hostels, one hospital, one airfield.
2024
NAAC A++
The Vidyapith is re-accredited by NAAC with A++, CGPA 3.63 out of 4.00.
Vision
Four things this university believes.
Residential, always
The Vidyapith is fully residential — the education happens as much in the hostel as in the lecture hall.
Panchmukhi, not extra-curricular
Body, breath, mind, intellect and character are timetabled, graded and recorded. They are not clubs.
Sanskrit and the sciences
Every UG student reads Sanskrit shloka alongside her scientific and literary training.
For women, without qualification
One-hundred percent of enrolled students are women. The residential-university design assumes that as a premise, not a policy.
Governance
Who runs the Vidyapith.
Board of Management
Statutory board with academic, administrative and lay members; meets four times a year.
Academic Council
Sets curriculum, examinations and research policy across the thirteen faculties.
Finance Committee
Reviews budgets, endowments, capital projects and residential-campus operations.
Statutory bodies, board membership and meeting notices are published under statutory bodies.
Accreditation
NAAC A++ · CGPA 3.63 / 4.00
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council awarded the Vidyapith an A++ grade in its 2024 cycle — the top band, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.63 out of 4.00. The Vidyapith is also recognised by UGC, AICTE, NCTE and the DSIR.
Recognitions
- · NAAC A++ (2024)
- · UGC deemed-to-be university (1983)
- · AICTE approved
- · NCTE approved (education programmes)
- · DSIR recognised research organisation