Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya
Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, specializing in the study of Sanskrit and related fields. History. In 1791, during the Benares State, a resident of the company, Jonathan Duncan, proposed the establishment of a Sanskrit college for the development and preservation of Sanskrit "Vangmaya" (eloquence) to demonstrate British support for Indian education. The initiative was sanctioned by governor general Lord Cornwallis. The first teacher of the institution was Pandit Kashinath and the governor general sanctioned a  budget of 20,000 per annum. The first principal of Government Sanskrit College was John Muir, followed by James R. Ballantyne, Ralph T. H. Griffith, George Thibaut, Arthur Venis, Sir Ganganath Jha and Gopinath Kaviraj. In 1857, the college began postgraduate teaching. An examination system was adopted in 1880. In 1894, the famous Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya building was built, where thousands of manuscripts remain preserved today. These manuscripts have been edited by the principal of the college and published in book form. More than 400 books have been published in a series known as "Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala". In 1958, the efforts  of Sampurnanand changed the status of the institution from that of a college to a Sanskrit university. In 1974, the name of the institution was formally changed to Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. Faculty. Veda-Vedanga. In this faculty, there are four departments: Sahitya Sanskriti. In this faculty, there are three departments: Ayurveda. In this faculty, there are many departments, such as: The establishment of a Bhuta Vidya (Spiritual Healing) department is currently being proposed. Research Institute. When the status of this institution was Sanskrit college, all research activities were carried out by the principal. This includes the work done for manuscripts  which were kept in the Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya When the institution became a university, the whole research work was supervised by the director of the Research Institute. The director is the chief editor of the famous book series "Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala" and is also the chief editor of the journal "Sārasvatī Suṣamā". The director has to supervise all the research activities in the university. The director is the academic head of the University. Famous grammarian Vagish Shastri made valuable contribution towards the Sanskrit journal "Sārasvatī Suṣamā" and edited numerous books of the "Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala" series. Affiliation. More than 1,200  Sanskrit-medium schools and colleges are affiliated with this university. This is the only university in India which enjoys such widespread affiliation throughout the country. The statistics of affiliated colleges are as follows: Controversy. According to University Grants Commission (India), in Delhi's Jagatpuri a fake university is running by this university's old name i.e. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi.