Dear Indologists
Excellent courses in Prakrit and Apabhramsa are being taught at the Apabhramsa Sahitya Academy run by the Shri Digambar Jain Atishaya Ksetra Shri Mahavir-ji Trust located in Jaipur, India.
My wife and I attended a four week course in Prakrit in February/March this year and found it to
be well worthwhile. The courses have been designed for foreign students and the Academy has a
comprehensive set of books for teaching Prakrit grammar and composition in English. Their
materials are well thought out and designed to ensure that students obtain a thorough grounding
in Prakrit in as short a time as practical. Their uncomplicated approach to teaching Prakrit means that knowledge of Sanskrit is not a prerequsite.
The classes are taught by Professor Kamal Chand Sogani and Ms. Shakuntala Jain.
Professor Sogani is a retired Professor of Philosophy from Udaipur University and director of the Apabhramsa Sahitya Academy. He is also the author of the text books and the director of the
program. It is possible for students or scholars to visit the academy any time all year round to attend classes.
We can highly recommend the Academy to anyone who has an interest in Prakrit and/or Jainism. Unfortunately, it does not currently have a website in English but one is under construction.
If you or any of your students are interested in visiting or studying at the Academy, you can contact Professor Sogani by email at jainapa@sify.com for further details. You are also welcome to contact us off list (info@svastha.com.au)
for any further information.
Regards
Giles Hooper
Honours student in Sanskrit
University of Sydney
Australia