New Delhi: India’s premier distance learning university, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), will soon constitute a Chair named after one of the most influential Hindu sects which have lakhs of followers and runs a chain of palatial temples across the world.

The Chair on Dharshan (philosophy) and Adhyatma (spirituality) will be called BAPS Swaminarayan Peeth.

The Constitution of the Chair is a part of the MoU signed between the university and BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. The organisation will also start certificate, diploma and degree courses in Vedic Spiritual Traditions and Indic Studies in India and abroad.

The officiating Vice Chancellor Ravindara Kumar told News18 that, “The program will start from August, and we are expecting 5000 applicants.” Later, the university aims to upgrade these courses to introduce doctoral research in these subjects.

Swaminarayan sect is an international spiritual organisation which has its genesis in the 19th century Gujarat and now has a large following in India and abroad.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gujarat to pay a tribute to Swaminarayan sect’s spiritual head Pramukh Swami, whose mortal remains are preserved at a temple in Sarangpur near Ahmedabad.

To begin with, the university will start the course in three languages Hindi, English, and Gujarati from its centers in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Its international centers in New York, London, Europe, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston will also offer these courses.

“The Swaminarayan sect will be providing us facilities at their international centers. Some of their personnel will also be used by us, but IGNOU has the facility to enlist teachers from across the country,” Kumar said.

The university plans to divide the course into two broad themes — Indic and Vedic studies which would entail studies of ancient Indian geography, relationships, the society of Indian civilization.