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EDUCATION & CULTURE

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Education

There is a strong tradition of Indology studies in Poland. Polish scholars translated Sanskrit classics into Polish in the 19th Century, with the first Chair of Sanskrit established at Jagiellonian University (Krakow) in 1893. The University has an active Indology Department with a popular 5-year post-graduate course in Indology. Hindi is also taught.

The Indology Department of the Oriental Institute at the University of Warsaw, established in 1932, is the biggest centre for Indian studies in Poland. The ICCR funds two Indian professors teaching Hindi and Tamil at Warsaw University. ICCR has signed an MoU with Jagiellonian University in Krakow to fund a Tamil Professor from 2011 Autumn semester there. Universities in Wroclaw and Poznan also offer Hindi. The first Indology Conference for Central and East European Countries was held in Warsaw in September 2005.

Centre for Contemporary India Research and Studies (CCIRS) inaugurated in January 2010 is an interdisciplinary institute of international relations under University of Warsaw. It is based on cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), European and Indian universities and institutes. The project funded by the EU is aimed at strengthening knowledge about contemporary India business and politics.

Culture

The Embassy, in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, regularly organises cultural performances in Poland, including a painting exhibition ‘Women by Women’ in six cities in Poland from October 2006 to August 2007. Recent Indian cultural troupes include Aditi Mangaldas (Kathak), Santoor (Tarun Bhattacharjee), Music Ensemble Group (Pt. Amarnath), Divya and Diksha Upreti (Kathak), Pragati Sood (Kathak), Mohiniattam (Dr. Deepti Omcherry Bhalla), Bharatnatyam (Rajyashree Ramesh), Kathak (Ms. Uma Sharma), Bhojpuri (Seema Tiwari).

Apart from regular gifts of books to Polish universities, in 2008 the Embassy gifted two computer sets each to Jagiellonian University and Centre Dom Kultury Podgorza in Krakow, apart from paying for the publication of Hindi poet Kunwar Narain’s selected works in Polish.