Sanskrit revival is a resurgence of interest in and use of the Sanskrit language, both in India and in Western countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and in many European countries. Sanskrit is one of the 22 official languages in India. In 2010, Uttarakhand became the first state in India to have Sanskrit as its second official language. In 2019, Himachal Pradesh became the second state to have Sanskrit as the second official language. There are 2,360,821 total speakers of Sanskrit in India, as of 2011. However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but the numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language.

History

In 1891 there was organized activity among the Theosophists in India promoting and participating in the revival of Sanskrit. In 1894 the American Asiatic and Sanskrit Revival Society was established. In the Republic of India Sanskrit is included in the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. Many organizations, like the Samskrta Bharati, are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The All-India Sanskrit Festival (since 2002) holds composition contests. The 1991 Indian census reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit. The state of Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to declare Sanskrit as an official language. The Central Board of Secondary Education in India has made Sanskrit a third language in the schools it governs (though it is an option for a school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language). In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, affiliated to the ICSE board too, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi. An option between Sanskrit and a local language as a second language exists for grades 9 and 10.

Sanskrit revival movements

Sanskrit literature movement

There is a Sanskrit literature movement to revive Sanskrit. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has started giving "World Sanskrit Award" to eminent Sanskrit scholars to recognise their outstanding contribution to the study, teaching, research in Sanskrit language and literature. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand was conferred the first ‘World Sanskrit Award’ in 2016. In 2017, Robert Goldman was awarded the World Sanskrit Award. There are also many Sanskrit writers who won Sahitya Akademi Award winners.

Global organisations

Samskrita Bharati is an organization working for Sanskrit revival. It is a tax exempt nonprofit organization with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The International Centre, Aksharam, a complex located in Bangalore, India, is its international centre. It houses a research wing, a library, audio-visual lab, and staff quarters. It also has several state-units spread across the country both in the United States and India. The US chapter is a registered nonprofit tax-exempt organization with its headquarters in San Jose, California. Samskrita Bharati functions as an umbrella organization for various organizations working for promotion of Samskrita. Being the liturgical language of Hindus, it is used during worship in Hindu temples in the West. It is taught in many South Asian studies/linguistics departments in universities across the West. Also, Sanskrit revival attempts are underway amongst expatriate Hindu populations in the west. It is also popular amongst the many practitioners of yoga in the West, who find the language useful in understanding the Yoga Sutra. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an India educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by K. M. Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, seven centres abroad and 367 constituent institutions. One of its purposes is the promotion of Sanskrit over "all aspects of life from the cradle to the grave and beyond" – thus filling "a growing vacuum in modern life".

Modern Sanskrit universities in India

In the last few years sporadic efforts have been made to form Sanskrit universities for Sanskrit studies and vyakarana in India. The Sanskrit Universities Bill is aimed at converting Sanskrit deemed to be universities to central universities. The partial list of such universities is given below in chronological order:

Sanskrit revival by states of India

Vedic & sanskrit school education board

The Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Sanskrit Shiksha Board (MSRVSSB) is a national-level school education board which grants the Veda Bhushan (10th) and Veda Vibhushan (12th) certificates to the students of affiliated schools. MSRVSSB certificates are accredited by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and AICTE as the recognised qualifications for admission into other tertiary institutions for a higher degree. Along with the modern subjects, the students are also taught Hindu scriptures, vedas, upnishads, ayurveda and sanskrit.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh has several dozens Sanskrit institutes, including the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth (deemed university) at Tirupati.

Assam and Northeast India

Assam and Northeast India, where Sanskrit has reached by the late vedic period, has Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti which was established in 2012 to research Sanskrit, Ananda Ram Baruah institute of languages publishes Sanskrit manuscripts, and Assam Sanskrit Board is responsible for researching and preserving Sanskrit documents and manuscripts.

Bihar

Bihar has Sanskrit institutes like Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University.

Delhi

Delhi has at Delhi University, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (deemed university) undertaking research and teaching in Sanskrit.

Gujarat

Gujarat has Shree Somnath Sanskrit University and 50 Sanskrit pathshalas (schools) of which 38 are officially recognised by the government.

Haryana

Haryana state has over 24 Sanskrit colleges offering education equivalent to bachelor's degree, additionally masters and doctoral level degrees are also offered by the Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University. In 2018, Haryana established Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal as a teaching and affiliating university for research in Sanskrit, vedas, Indic languages, Indian culture and Indian philosophy.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes. In 2019 the Himachal Pradesh government decided to make Sanskrit the second official language replacing Punjabi. Also, Himachal Pradesh government has plans to teach Sanskrit as a compulsory language from 3rd to 5th standards. Currently Sanskrit is taught from 5th to 10th standards in the state. The state government has also intended to open a Sanskrit university to revive the language in the state. Some believe the move was controversial as is aimed at Sanskritisation of the province and rather than revival of Sanskrit, the Western Pahari language should have been revived which is the local language system of the province written originally in Takri script.

Kerala

Kerala has many Sanskrit institutes, including Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. World's First Sanskrit Children's Film 'Madhurasmitham'director SureshGayathri Kerala State Sanskrit Teacher.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes, including Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan and Maharishi Panini Sanskrit Evam Vedic Vishwavidyalaya.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra has Sanskrit institutes like Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University.

Odisha

Odisha has many Sanskrit institutes, including Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidayalaya.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan has Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has many Sanskrit institutes, including the Madras Sanskrit College established in 1906.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh has Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.

West Bengal

West Bengal has at least four universities with Sanskrit departments.

Revival outside India

Over 100 institutes outside India offer academic studies in Sanskrit:

South Asia

Indosphere

The following nations in the Indosphere offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:

Africa

The following nations in Africa offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:

Americas

The following nations in the Americas offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:

Arab and Middle East

The following nations in the Middle East offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:

Europe

The following nations in Europe offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies, most notably Germany, France, UK, Italy and the Netherlands:

Oceania

The following nations in Oceania offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies: