Guwahati, Aug 30: The Assam government and Visva Bharati University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Srimanta Sankardeva Chair at the university in West Bengal. The agreement aims to promote the study and research of Srimanta Sankardeva and his Bhakti movement on an international scale.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Visva Bharati Vice Chancellor Arabinda Mondal. The Chair, funded by a Rs 5 crore grant, will support doctoral and post-doctoral research on the Bhakti movement’s history, literature, and cultural impact.

Chief Minister Sarma highlighted Sankardeva’s teachings, which have had a profound impact on Assam for centuries, and encouraged the academic community to utilize this agreement to foster scholarship around his significant contributions to Indian society.

This is the third Srimanta Sankardeva Chair to be established, following similar initiatives at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and Punjab University in Chandigarh. The move is expected to further promote the study and understanding of Sankardeva’s philosophy and its relevance in modern times.