Headquarters of three universities, Mysore, will add another when the newly-constituted University of Music and Demonstration Arts starts functioning in the next few monbsstateths.
A leading centre for arts and culture, Mysore, has produced stalwarts in different areas of arts and culture. The city already houses the Mysore University, the Karnataka State Open University and the JSS Deemed University.
The new, fourth university will be formally inaugurated by the chief minister in a month or two and will start its academic year before September this year.
The state government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the university which will offer courses in music and demonstration arts, including the traditional and modern styles of music.
“We have sought another additional Rs 25 crore from the government for creating physical infrastructure on the five-acre land sanctioned to us and we expect the same to be sanctioned in the next budget,” newly-appointed vice-chancellor Hanumanna Naika Dore said here today.
There are similar universities or academic centres in Lucknow, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, but the University in Mysore, being the first of its kind in South India, could be a link to the southern part of the country offering training in all aspects of music, including cinema music, he said.
The university will adopt two models of teaching, the traditional ‘Gurukula’ and the modern model. In the traditional method, artistes will be trained under master artistes and graduates will be produced under a modern approach.
The ‘Gurukula’ system will again have two approaches to teaching, internal and external, where ‘gurus’ will come and train the disciples, the university accommodating both of them in the campus, and aspiring students will be sent to veteran musicians, who cannot come to Mysore, and learn under the ‘Guru-Shishya’ pattern.
As under the modern approach, degrees, diplomas and certificate courses will be offered at different levels of teaching during the prescribed teaching hours. Online courses are also proposed to be offered in due course. The university will have Prasaranga (publication division), documentation archives and practical learning facilities, in addition to its academic wing. It will function as per the University Grants Commission norms, Dore said.
If construction of classrooms are delayed, the VC said, ‘Kuteeras’ will be set up and classes will commenced by September.
He expected the university to bring in socialisation in music and demonstration arts, providing ample opportunities to students to learn under the pattern they prefer and exposing the talent in these areas to the world of art and music, he added.
