Univ to hold seminar on Hanuman

A two-day international seminar to impart the “communication skills” of monkey god Hanuman will be organised by the Chhattisgarh‘s state-run Kushabhau Thakre Journalism and Mass Communication University from September 7.

The university has invited research papers on 19 themes related to Hanuman’s “attributes” such as life management skills, modern and ancient forms of Hanuman, importance of Ram and Ramayana in public life, and Hanuman in Sabar Matras. The seminar is organised by the Department of Indology and Heritage Management, headed by Ashutosh Mandavi, state chief of Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, also the coordinator of the seminar.

The department is yet to enrol even a single student this year. According to Mandavi this happened because the students who applied, were not up to the mark.

Hanuman is a part of the department’s course work. “We have received 55 research papers from across the country,” said Mandavi .

Meanwhile, university vice-chancellor Maan Singh Parmar sought to distance himself from the seminar, saying it was not a university event but hosted by the Uttar Pradesh government ‘s Ayodhya Research Institute and Culture Department .

“I don’t think there is any harm in telling students about spiritual communication,” Parmar said. Another faculty member said one can learn a lot from Hanuman, whose time management was “excellent”.

YP Singh, director, Ayodhya institute, which was set up in 1986 in Faizabad, said, “For journalism students it is important to understand that how Hanuman reached across the globe. There are many aspects of (his) that should be read and learned.”

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