Historians to debate chronology of Vedic literature at DU meet

Amid a raging debate over incorporation of Vedic education in curriculum, DU's Sanskrit Department will be holding a consultation meeting to "correct" historical anomalies in existing beliefs about the origin of Rig Veda.
The national symposium on "Chronology of Vedic Literature - A Reassessment" will be attended by Sanskrit scholars and historians from across the country.
The three-day meet in September, is being supported by HRD Ministry and organised in association with Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratisthan, Ujjain.
The seminar assumes significance in light of the fact that there has been a renewed debate about saffronisation of education ever since Narendra Modi government came to power.

Various right-wing organisations have pressed for incorporating Vedic literature and Vedic maths in school curriculum, lamenting that the existing education paedagogy is heavily influenced by the colonial past.
"The original date of Rig Veda has been debated for long. The Marxists have gone all out to establish that Indus Valley civilisation is older than Rig Vedic era. The fact that Aryans came to the plains of India and pushed the Dravidians southwards is also not true.

"Much before the Indus Valley civilisation, the plains of India had a flourishing culture of its own, which can be established through the Rig Vedic texts. The history needs correction and chronology needs to be fixed," said Ramesh Bhardwaj, Head of DU's Sanskrit Department.

Bhardwaj who has also submitted a project to Indian Council for Historical Research, seeking funding to conduct research on the subject, said, "Our dates do not match with the main stream dates established by the historians."
Representatives of Arya Samaj and Sanathan Dharma are also understood to have been invited for the seminar.
Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratisthan, is the first-of-its kind organisation under the HRD ministry.