The founder-chancellor of the University of Patanjali needs no introduction; Baba Ramdev is one of India’s most popular yoga gurus and the brand evangelist behind “Patanjali Ayurved” products. He is no stranger to media attention. His recent scathing attack on FMCG giants for selling foreign products in India, through public comments and Patanjali Ayurved’s advertisements, has made him ever more popular. The one project of Baba Ramdev that seems to have gone largely unnoticed, though, is the University of Patanjali.
With courses such as Yoga Science, Shastri, and Sanskrit, July 2016 witnessed the first ever round of admissions for the University of Patanjali, located in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. The university website claims it is “a manifestation of the divine vision of His Holiness Swami Ramdev and Honorable Acharya Balkrishna to establish an Integral Center of Education Excellence blending all spectrum of oriental wisdom and scientific knowledge”.
Baba Ramdev, in a recent address in the United States, claimed that 1500 acres of land have been acquired to expand the University of Patanjali into a world class institute akin to the University of Houston, or even Harvard.
