Centre’s Indian Knowledge System division set to broaden scope to include fashion, edutainment

New Delhi: For the first time, the Indian Knowledge Systems division has brought contemporary topics, including fashion and interior design, edutainment sciences, culinary, nutritional and pharmacological sciences, under its umbrella.

Moving away from traditional topics, such as ayurveda and astronomy, the division under the Union Ministry of Education is now broadening its scope by inviting research proposals and textbook suggestions in the modern fields.

IKS National Coordinator Ganti S. Murthy told ThePrint that integrating the Indian Knowledge Systems with modern disciplines presents a unique challenge. “There is always a challenge when we try to mainstream the Indian Knowledge Systems, as the current disciplinary structure does not overlap with what we have. That is a common problem everywhere,” he said.

To tackle this, he mentioned a collaborative effort with IIT Hyderabad, incorporating the identification of 16 themes that could be understood both by traditional scholars and those in modern education. “We did an exercise with IIT Hyderabad to come up with these 16 themes, which a traditional scholar should be able to identify, and people in modern education should also relate to,” Murthy said. 

“We don’t have textbooks on IKS in fields such as fashion, interior design, and edutainment, and similarly, there isn’t enough research in these areas. This initiative will help in developing both,” he added.

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Mixing IKS with interior designing & edutainment 

Murthy highlighted the need to bridge gaps between contemporary fields and traditional IKS. “We need to figure out how modern fashion designing aligns with IKS and how current interior design techniques relate to traditional knowledge,” he said.

“If we think about furniture design today, we must ask ourselves: are we incorporating enough Indian aesthetics? Not much, but we are starting to explore it. How can we do more?” he said.

In terms of interior design, he said there is a need to look back to Indian architectural elements for inspiration. “Are we exploring Indian layouts in interior design? I am not talking about Vastu Shastra here, but elements, such as skylights, traditionally placed in the center of houses, as seen in typical South Indian homes. Courtyards were a key feature in the northern parts of the country. Can we bring these elements into designs today?” he asked.

Murthy also expressed the need to incorporate traditional textiles into the fashion and textile industries. “Similarly, in fashion, how can we incorporate traditional forms of textiles in modern designs? All of that has to be explored,” he said.

In terms of edutainment, he said that the division will explore topics that blend ancient and modern approaches to combining education and entertainment. “For instance, puppetry, which has traditionally served both educational and entertainment purposes, is one area we want people to reconsider,” he said.

Research projects typically receive awards ranging from Rs. 5 to 10 lakh, with a maximum of Rs 20 lakh for experimental projects over two years. For textbook and course material development, the division will provide up to Rs. 8.5 lakh to selected candidates under various categories.

125 IKS textbooks and course material 

The IKS Division is working towards the creation of 125 textbooks and course material for undergraduate students on various topics under the Bhāratīya-jñāna-pāṭhyapustaka-yojanā.

“The main focus of this initiative is to develop materials across multiple IKS disciplines that will serve as an introduction to graduate-level texts, catering to students and scholars pursuing courses in these fields,” the official notification issued by the division stated.

According to Murthy, the demand for IKS courses in higher education has surged in the recent past. “To ensure a successful introduction of discipline-specific courses in IKS, developing authentic reference books and textbooks is crucial,” he said.

While the IKS Division is already funding several initiatives at IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Kharagpur—including creating edited volumes of lecture notes for courses and faculty development programmes—Murthy emphasised the need for a much larger national effort in this area. “The IKS Division will commission textbooks specifically designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students, aligned with the IKS courses introduced in higher education institutes across the country.”

“These textbooks will be developed by subject experts and published in an open-access e-book format by the IKS Division,” he added.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

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