The late 19th-century writer Edwin Arnold hailed Varanasi, perched on the banks of the holy river Ganges, as “the Oxford and Canterbury of India in one.”

Long heralded as an ancient center of learning, Varanasi — also known as Banaras or Kashi, the city of light — is now emerging as a popular international university town, further enhancing its “enlightened” reputation.

Upon first arriving in Varanasi, one is immediately smitten with the richness of romantic India in all her glory. Considered one of the oldest living cities on earth with religious and historical significance comparable to Mecca, Jerusalem, Athens and Rome, Varanasi has been of utmost importance to sages, saints and devout Hindus for over 2,500 years.

Nothing compares to an afternoon ambling through the narrow alleyways of the Old City of Godalia, competing for right-of-way with massive milk cows and vendors of syrupy-sweet chai, shopping for silk saris and silver trinkets. Nowhere on earth does one experience such an intoxicating olfactory blend: the nose must navigate steaming patties of cow dung mixed with constant curries, sandalwood oils and garlands of marigolds. Throw in a blast of earsplitting Hindi music emanating from loudspeakers to add to the colorful chaos, and you have an incomparable sensory explosion.

At sunrise along the Ganges, devout residents and pilgrims welcome the day along Dasaswamedh Ghat, the main bathing platform. At sunset, Brahmin priests perform elaborate puja rituals that make onlookers’ heads spin. Billowing clouds of pungent incense waft through the air. Temple bells and tabla drums create a hypnotic backbeat as the priests circle their heads with cobra-headed candelabras, chanting Sanskrit prayers with trance-like overtones.

Witnessing a funeral pyre at one of the main burning ghats (flight of stone steps) is an awesome spectacle — a peculiar and powerful sight vastly unfamiliar to western eyes. Once the ashes of the deceased are offered to the river, the pious soul is guaranteed freedom from rebirth, known as moksha, or liberation.

It is so natural to lose oneself in the magic of Varanasi’s ancient ways that one can easily overlook one of the city’s finest modern attributes: Banaras Hindu University, located just south of the Old City. Spread out over a massive 1,300-acre campus serving 20,000 students, BHU is the largest residential university in Asia — and considered by many to be one of the most beautiful, colorfully enhanced by the multitudes of resident peacocks and large swaths of greenery and open space.

With more than 128 teaching departments, the university is rapidly expanding as a center of study for foreign nationals. BHU offers a vast array of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate certificate programs in all branches of humanities, social science, technology, science, fine and performing arts. The engineering, IT, agriculture, medicine and law colleges are ranked among India’s finest, and the campus boasts the largest university library system in the nation.

India’s former president, Dr. A.P.J. Kalam, recently encouraged BHU professors to make the university into a “global brand,” calling it a shining star among all Indian universities. In 2006 BHU established its International Centre to address the needs of foreign students. A year later the university teamed up with the State University of New York at Buffalo to create a comprehensive exchange program for both faculty and students.

In addition to establishing firmer exchange ties with foreign universities, BHU can now boast another feather in its thinking cap. This May the university was named an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), an elite status that will effectively double its government funding for research and infrastructure. BHU has been targeted as a key research center for the applied science field of nanotechnology. Other areas of research touch on agricultural production, pollution and climate change.

BHU’s expansion as an international university reflects a greater trend of bilateral academic exchange. U.S. companies are expressing interest in investing capital in the Indian university system to bridge the gap between industry and academia. With the tremendous wave of Foreign Direct Investment flooding into the country, overseas companies are looking to conduct economic research directly on Indian soil.

David Mulford, U.S. Ambassador to India, asserts that student and faculty exchanges, capital investment and increased support of the Fulbright Program in India should all be encouraged. Referring to the approximately 84,000 Indian students in the United States and 1,700 American students in India, Ambassador Mulford called this disparity a “trade imbalance” — one that will not persist due to India’s firm arrival on the world stage. “Young people are fascinated by India, and they’re going to be putting pressure on their universities to have an exchange program [in India] just as they have in Europe, Japan and China.”

Visitors who would like to study in India without the commitment of a degree program may wish to investigate BHU’s post-graduate certificate and diploma programs, which are affordable and serve as an opportunity to experience learning in a vastly different environment and culture. Languages such as Hindi, German and Urdu are offered, as well as Indian Philosophy and Religion, Music, Dance and Visual Arts. All courses are taught in English.

Entry Requirements

A valid passport and visa are necessary for all travel to India. Visas must be obtained before arrival. Three- and six-month as well as five- and 10-year visas are issued to U.S. nationals, with maximum continuous stay not to exceed 180 days. Academic visas may be obtained upon request and with a formal letter of acceptance from an approved educational institute.

More Information

Embassy of India

2107 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
tel 202 939 7000
http://www.indianembassy.org

Banaras Hindu University International Centre

C/3/3 Tagore House
Varanasi 221 005
tel 0542 2307639
http://www.calcuttachamber.com

Uttar Pradesh Tourism Centre

Parade Kothi
Canttonment Varanasi 221 002
tel 0542 2208162
http://www.up-tourism.com