Welcome To
DEPARTMENT OF YOGIC ART & SCIENCE
HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT
“Yoga Sadhana is the National Sadhana of Bharat”, once said Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He believed that and practiced it his whole life and advised it to his students and followers. Santiniketan Ashram, ‘Abode of Peace’ was established by Maharshi Devedranath Tagore, father of Gurudev as a place for dhayana and worshipping God. ‘Chatimtala’ the place where Maharshi meditated and felt heavenly peace, depicted the true meaning of Yoga: “God is my living force, joy of mind and peace of my soul”. That vibration prevails all over the Santiniketan, Sriniketan, and Vinaya Bhavana. When Gurudeva started (1901) his Tapovana School he made YogaVyayama a compulsory subject in regular routine. Since that time Yoga has been an essential part of Santiniketan. Gurudev’s idea behind Visva-Bharati (1921) was to mingle the best of the East with the best of the West, where yoga was significantly present. This legacy continued till VisvaBharati became Central University. At the beginning of this century, Govt. of India, tried to open a separate Yoga Department. Finally in 2016, Govt. selected six Central Universities to start the Dept. of Yogic Art and Science including Visva-Bharati from the eastern part of India. On 15th May 2017, the two hundred birth anniversary of Maharshi Debendra Nath Tagore, Visva-Bharati opened its full phased Yoga Department with a PG Diploma in Yoga and a B.Sc in Yoga. Later in 2020 it started M.Sc in Yoga and received permission for PhD program. As per the Govt. of India directive in the future, Dept. will offer certificate courses, PG-Diploma in Yoga Therapy only for medical graduates and integrated PhD in Yoga. Presently Visva-Bharati Yoga Department is preparing a Yoga village where separate functional cottages for Yogasana, Pranayama, and Dhayana will be operating in the future. Also, an Ayurvedic garden and AYUSH hospital have started slowly functional. Our Chancellor Sri Narendra Modi Ji mentioned especially about the social responsibilities and prospects of the Yoga Department in his Visva-Bharati centenary speech. With blessings of the almighty, Maharshi and Gurudev, the Yoga Department believes, it will become the pride of Bharat and a global reference center for traditional and classical Indian Yoga.