# Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University

Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University is a faculty in the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India which offers courses in Humanities along with various professional and vocational courses except social sciences. It was founded in 1898 and is the oldest and largest faculty in the University. Faculty of Arts was formerly known as the Central Hindu College (1898–1916). In 1916, the Banaras Hindu University grew around the nucleus of the Faculty of Arts.

## History

Formally known as Central Hindu College, the Faculty of Arts is the oldest and largest faculty in the Banaras Hindu University. It was founded in 1898 by Annie Besant and became the main centre and the core of the Banaras Hindu University in 1916 founded by Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. The Faculty of Arts is often called the mother faculty of the University, many other faculties and departments of the university grew around it. Old CHC Building (Panoramic View)

## Organization

Faculty of Arts' administrative head is a dean. The dean is responsible for all aspects of the faculty's operations, including budgets, administration, planning, support services, faculty appointments, curricula and student affairs. The dean is appointed by and reports to the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
There are 23 different departments in the Faculty of Arts that offer Certificate courses, Special courses, Undergraduate diploma, undergraduate degree (UG), advanced postgraduate diploma, postgraduate degree (PG) and Doctorate in following three categoriesHistory, Culture and Philosophy; Language and Literature; and Professional and Vocational courses.

## Departments

The faculty houses departments of various languages such as those of English, Bengali, French, Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu, German, Marathi, Arabic, Urdu, Persian other foreign languages, other Indian languages; it also houses departments of linguistics, archaeology, Pali & Buddhism, philosophy and religion, physical education, journalism, history of art, and library science. The faculty has niche departments such as Bhojpuri Adhyayan Kendra (transl. Bhojpuri Studies Centre), Bharat Adhyayan Kendra (transl. Indian subcontinent Studies Centre), and Malaviya Moolya Anusheelan Kendra (transl. Malviya Values Pursuance Centre).

## Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the faculty of arts include:
| Name | Course | Subject | Year | Occupation | Remarks |
| Ahmad Hasan Dani | MA | Sanskrit | 1944 | Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian & linguist | First Muslim graduate of BHU |
| Anant Sadashiv Altekar | – | – | – | Historian, archaeologist and numismatist | |
| Awadh Kishore Narain | MA | AIHC | 1947 | Indian historian, archaeologist & numismatist | |
| B. D. Lakshman | BA | – | – | Indo-Fijian politician, union leader & businessman | |
| Baldev Upadhyaya | MA | Sanskrit | 1922 | Hindi & Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist & critic | Padma Bhushan awardee |
| Colin Turnbull | MA | Indian Religion & Philosophy | 1947 | British-American anthropologist | |
| Kashinath Singh | PhD | Hindi | 1965 | Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language | Sahitya Akademi Awardee |
| Koenraad Elst | MA | Indology | 1992 | Orientalist and Indologist | – |
| Kuber Nath Rai | – | Hindi & Sanskrit | – | Hindi literature & Sanskrit scholar | – |
| Lal Mani Joshi | MA | Pali | 1964 | Buddhist scholar | – |
| Liu Anwu | MA | Hindi | 1958 | Chinese translator | – |
| Ma Su Krishnamurthy | MA | Hindi | 1962 | Kannada and Hindi writer | – |
| Manu Bhandari | MA | Hindi | 1953 | Hindi writer | – |
| Paragu | – | – | – | Burmese writer | – |
| Prithvi Nath Kaula | – | – | – | Library and Information Sciences specialist | Padma Shri awardee. |
| Rajbali Pandey | PhD | – | – | Indian writer and author | |
| Ram Krishna Singh | MA | English | 1972 | Reviewer, critic and contemporary poet | – |
| Rewa Prasad Dwivedi | MA | Sanskrit | 1962 | Sanskrit scholar and poet | |
| Robert M. Pirsig | MA | Eastern Philosophy & culture | 1954 | American writer and philosopher | – |
| Umanath Singh | BA, MA | Hindi, Sanskrit & History | 1956, 1958 | Indian professor | |
| Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena | - | - | - | Hindi writer, poet, columnist and playwright | – |
| Satya Vrat Shastri | PhD | Sanskrit | - | Sanskrit scholar, writer, grammarian and poet | – |
| Shankar Dayal Singh | BA | - | - | Indian Politician | – |
| Sita Ram Chaturvedi | - | - | - | Indian educator, dramatist and scholar of Hindi and Sanskrit language and literature | - |