  Mt. Abu Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera - Pathfinder (MFOSC-P) is an
imager-spectrograph developed for the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) 1.2m
telescope at Gurushikhar, Mt. Abu, India. MFOSC-P is based on a focal reducer
concept and provides seeing limited imaging (with a sampling of 3.3 pixels per
arc-second) in Bessell's B, V, R, I and narrow-band H-$\alpha$ filters. The
instrument uses three plane reflection gratings, covering the spectral range of
4500-8500$\AA$, with three different resolutions of 500, 1000, and 2000 around
their central wavelengths. MFOSC-P was conceived as a pathfinder instrument for
a next-generation instrument on the PRL's 2.5m telescope which is coming up at
Mt. Abu. The instrument was developed during 2015-2019 and successfully
commissioned on the PRL 1.2m telescope in February 2019. The designed
performance has been verified with laboratory characterization tests and on-sky
commissioning observations. Different science programs covering a range of
objects are being executed with MFOSC-P since then, e.g., spectroscopy of
M-dwarfs, novae $\&$ symbiotic systems, and detection of H-$\alpha$ emission in
star-forming regions. MFOSC-P presents a novel design and cost-effective way to
develop a FOSC (Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera) type of instrument on a
shorter time-scale of development. The design and development methodology
presented here is most suitable in helping the small aperture telescope
community develop such a versatile instrument, thereby diversifying the science
programs of such observatories.
