In the age of AI, ML and Blockchain, the study of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) may at first glance seem like old wives’ tale, but technical institutes are going all out to embrace traditional learning systems through elective credit courses. “IKS was being offered as a non-credit course in academic institutions for the last three years. While reviving the vast repository of ancient knowledge, these courses can instil pride in our youth with their inclusion in mainstream education,” says Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairperson, AICTE, that has under its purview, the Indian Knowledge System division to promote interdisciplinary research on all aspects of IKS. More recently, the IKS division has launched three initiatives, namely, proposals for new IKS centres, competitive research proposals and student internships programme. Considering the need to establish IKS centres in traditional schools and STEM educational institutes, the Division will provide a funding support of Rs 30-40 lakh over two years to the institute that establishes the IKS centre and conducts related activities. Under the IKS internship programme, selected students will be paired with IKS experts to work on short research projects, activities.workshops, etc and earn a stipend (of about Rs 25000) for the duration of two months as per AICTE norms.

To further formalise IKS education, the technical education regulator has commissioned a textbook titled ‘Introduction to Indian Knowledge System, Concepts and Applications’ by B Mahadevan, professor of Operations Management, IIM Bangalore, Vinayaka Rajat Bhat and RN Nagendra Pavana, both from Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Ernakulum.

Speaking about IKS’ significance to present-day engineers, Mahadevan cites the wide prevalence of mathematical concepts such as Pascal’s triangles, principles of binary Math, and algorithms in ancient knowledge systems. “Exposure to the conventional and contemporary concepts will bring engineers closer to their cultural ethos, expand their intellectual horizons and enhance their confidence,” adds Mahadevan, who teaches ‘Management Paradigms from Bhagwad Gita’, and ‘Introduction to the Sanskrit Language’ at IIM Bangalore that has 3 credit elective courses on the IKS of 30 hours duration.
The IITs too have a keen interest in IKS, but more as an extracurricular activity, says Uday Shanker Dixit, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, and head of the institute’s Centre for Indian Knowledge System, that has started a PhD programme and short duration courses on ‘Spoken Sanskrit’ and ‘Spoken Assamese’ since its inception in November 2021. “Our institute has also been teaching courses from the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, many of which have an IKS flavour. The fact that NEP 2020 advocates a good education system to provide knowledge of 64 kalaas or arts and eliminate rigid boundaries between disciplines, makes IKS that much more relevant in HEIs,” Dixit adds.

At IIT Gandhinagar, however, the IKS elective course dates to 2016, long before NEP 2020 gained prominence. “It was based on a perceived need to bring together scores of fine scholars so as to build a rounded view of India as a knowledge civilization,” says Michel Danino, visiting professor, and coordinator of the institute’s Centre for Archaeological Sciences and IKS course. “The course is also in keeping with the institute’s vision to be more than an engineering college — a place where multidisciplinarity and crossdisciplinarity would enrich the students’ horizon and prepare them better for life’s challenges.

“We started with a broad panorama of IKS covering the sciences, philosophies, arts etc, then moved on to ancient Indian society, technologies, and finally the ‘ancient idea of India’ with all its rich mechanisms of cultural integration. We explored Indian arts and aesthetics last year, and right now Indian literature. Since this is an unconventional, multi-instructor course with a different theme every year, students from our institute have been relatively few (10 to 20 on average), but the course has also attracted many students from outside the institute including the National Institute of Design (NID), IIM-Ahmedabad and local colleges,” he says.

Danino laments there are vast amounts of excellent scholarly material in almost all fields of IKS, which is not accessible to most students. “We need to produce materials — textbooks, videos, animations, etc — that will appeal to students and excite them, yet without compromise on their authenticity.”

Eventually every discipline of IKS should find a home in the regular disciplines. “For instance, the history of Indian Mathematics could easily be integrated in regular Maths programmes; the same with Architecture or Philosophy or Ayurveda. This is also part of the NEP’s desiderata, but it will need to be done gradually — we cannot reverse decades of neglect in a few years,” he adds.