Dayalbagh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ?Dayalbagh Uttar Pradesh • India |
|
| Coordinates: (find coordinates) | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| District(s) | Agra |
| Population | 3,324 (2001) |
{[wikify}} Dayalbagh is a town and a nagar panchayat in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Dayalbagh is the headquarters of the Radhasoami Satsang religion. The city is also home to Dayalbagh Educational Institute. It comprises various Colleges, prominently among them being Dayalbagh Engineering College.
Contents |
[edit] Demographics
As of the 2001 India census[1], Dayalbagh had a population of 3324. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Dayalbagh has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85% and, female literacy is 68%. In Dayalbagh, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.
[edit] Ambience
The Dayalbagh Educational Institute is located amidst the tranquil environs of Dayalbagh, a self-contained colony renowned for its serene environment and secular establishments, in which its inhabitants lead an active, disciplined and co-operative community life dedicated to service, conforming to the high spiritual ideals of their faith. On the outskirts of the historic city of Agra, the campus is situated in garden settings, away from the din and noise of the city. Nestled between lush green fields, it provides an excellent ambience and academic setting that is in harmony with nature. This, along with a simple, disciplined and principled life, undoubtedly contributes to the strength of the social, moral and spiritual fiber of the institute's educational system.
[edit] Community life
The Colony of Dayalbagh, which translates as "Garden of the Merciful," was founded on the Basant Day in 1915 by Huzur Sahabji Maharaj, the fifth Revered Leader of Radhasoami Faith by planting a mulberry tree, as an Ashram or the spiritual home of the followers of the Faith. The headquarters of Radhasoami Satsang Sabha are located here.
The colony is laid out in an open garden setting. The land where the colony was established one consisted of sand dunes. For more than 60 years residents of the colony - men and women, young and old - have worked with quiet dedication in a vast programme for reclamation of land launched in 1943 by Huzur Mehtaji Maharaj, the sixth Revered Leader of the Faith. The result is a lush green 1200-acre farm where food-grains, oil-seeds, fodder, and vegetables are grown.
Nobody owns any property in Dayalbagh individually. The land, the houses and institutions all belong to the community as a whole. People also live and work as a community. For example, the residents share various responsibilities like cleaning up the colony and arranging night security. The colony has its own water supply, electricity distribution, and civic services. The colony's dairy provides most of the milk that is needed, and a community kitchen that supplies food free to pilgrims. The residents can also obtain meals from there and free themselves from household chores.
There is a hospital with a maternity ward. Facilities exist for ophthalmic and dental treatment, ultrasound, ECG, and pathological testing. All consultations and treatment are free for everyone. The majority of patients are from outside Dayalbagh. There are also homeopathic and ayurvedic dispensaries.
Small-scale industries known as the Model Industries were established in 1916 to provide employment and a source of livelihood to the persons residing in the colony. It has done some pioneering work in the country. The industries have now been decentralized and cottage scale production of goods of daily necessity is taking place in units set up by Satsangis all over the country.
The Radhasoami Urban Cooperative Bank and the Dayalbagh Mahila Bank cater to the financial requirements of various organizations and individuals in the colony. The Dayalbagh Printing Press prints Holy Books and the two Satsang weeklies, one in English (also available in its e-version) and the other in Hindi.
The day in Dayalbagh begins with congregational prayers, followed by physical fitness exercise and work on the farms and in colony by way of service, where after people go to their respective vocations. The day ends with prayers in the evening.
[edit] Genesis of Dayalbagh Educational Institute
The foundation of a school was laid the very next day after the foundation of the colony. The school has grown in course of time to become a Deemed University-Dayalbagh Educational Institute-with various faculties with facilities for research. The education system followed is unique and provides value-based multi-disciplinary education with work experience. In addition, the colony has a diploma level Technical College, a Women's Polytechnic, a nursery, primary level schools and secondary level colleges for boys and girls; a school of Languages; a School of Art and Culture; a Tailoring School; a School of Dress Designing and Interior Decoration; a Day Boarding School; a Training Center for Indian Music; and a Leather Working School.
[edit] Other Non-University Institutions of Dayalbagh
There has been a social transformation of the community. Literacy among boys and girls is complete. There is no caste system. Marriages are simple. The community is organized through 11 Regional Associations in the country and 3 Associations abroad comprising of over 500 Branches and Centers. There are several schools and dispensaries being run in different parts of the country and intensive tribal welfare and uplift work is being done in district Harda of Madhya Pradesh.
1. Radhasoami High School, Timarni, Madhya Pradesh
2. Schools in Rajaborari Estate, Madhya Pradesh
i. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Rajaborari ii. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Temrubahar iii. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Kachnar iv. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Kairi v. Radhasoami Adivasi Higher Secondary School, Rajaborari vi. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Mahagaon vii. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Salai viii. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Gulardhana ix. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Mogradhana x. Radhasoami Adivasi Primary School, Dabri
3. Radhasoami Free Aided Elementary School, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
4. Radhasoami Primary School, Melathiruvengadanathpuram, Tamil Nadu
5. Madurai Primary School, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
6. Soami Nagar Pre-Primary School, New Delhi
7. Roorkee Model School, Roorkee, Uttaranchal
8. New Model School, Daudhar, Punjab
9. Chandigarh New Model School, Chandigarh
10. Model Primary School, Dhariwal, Punjab
11. Prem Nagar New Model School, Ludhiana, Punjab
12. Soami Nagar Model School, Delhi
13. Mullanpur New Model School, Mullanpur, Punjab
14. Radhasoami Boys Primary School, Timarni, Madhya Pradesh
15. Radhasoami School, Murar Bihar
16. Satsang Training Employment and Rural Uplift Institute, Murar, Bihar
17. Vocational Training Centres for Adivasi and Other Weaker Sections in Timarni and Rajaborari, Madhya Pradesh
[edit] About Dayalbagh Educational Institute
[edit] Philosophy
The Institute has introduced a scheme of innovative and comprehensive education at university and non-university general and technical education levels. It aims at excellence but not at the cost of the relevance, which inculcates dignity of labour, encourages initiative and creative work, which is multi-disciplinary, which prepares men for the increasingly techno-oriented society of tomorrow without uprooting them from their agricultural moorings, which will generate in the alumni the basic values of humanism, secularism and democracy by exposing them to the principles of all the major religions of the world and to their own cultural heritage, thus developing in them an integrated personality of well-adjusted men whose world has not been broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
[edit] Brief History
Soon after Dayalbagh was founded in 1915, the Radhasoami Satsang Sabha, in pursuance of the lofty ideals to evolve the superman of tomorrow, started the Radhasoami Educational Institute, as a co-educational Middle School, open to all, on January 1, 1917. Administered by a Managing Committee registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, the Institute, since the very beginning, combined the pursuit of academic studies with sensibilities, moral and spiritual values. From the modest beginning, the nucleus not only grew and got divided but also spawned new institutions, as the needs of the society and the times demanded. Within six months, it was raised to the level of a High School; Intermediate classes were started in 1922; it became a Degree College in 1947, with the introduction of B.Com. classes affiliated to Agra University; B.Ed. (B.T.) classes were added in 1951 and the first batch of B.Sc. students was sent up for the final examination in 1955.
A Technical School, which later developed into a College, was started in 1927 for imparting training in automobile, electrical and mechanical engineering, leading to the award of diploma in the concerned branch of the Board of Technical Education, U.P. The Leather Working School, started in 1930, gives instructions in both theory and practice for manufacture of leather goods.
To further the cause of women's education, Prem Vidyalaya was started in 1930. It is now an Intermediate College. The Women's Training College was established in 1947 for B.A. and B.Ed. classes. M.Ed. classes were added in 1958. M.A. in Psychology, English and Hindi in 1969 and M.A. (Music) in 1976. It made phenomenal progress to become one of the premier women's colleges in the country.Engineering College, affiliated to Agra University, for the degree of B.Sc. (Engineering), was the latest (1950) addition to the chain of educational institutions in Dayalbagh.
A new and significant development of far-reaching consequence, in the history of education at Dayalbagh, was the establishment of DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE as a registered body in 1973, which integrated and brought under one umbrella all the educational institutions of Dayalbagh, including the School of Comparative Study of Religion, the School of Languages and the School of Art and Culture.
In 1975, it formulated an innovative and comprehensive programme of undergraduate studies that received approbation from the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the University Grants Commission, as a result of which in 1981 the Ministry of Education, Government of India, conferred the status of an institution deemed to be a University on the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, to implement the new scheme.
[edit] Location and The Neighbourhood Community
The Institute is situated at DAYALBAGH, a self-contained colony well-known for its serene environment, secular establishments like the industries, the educational institutions, the agriculture farm etc. and the activities of its inmates who lead an active, disciplined and co-operative community life, conforming to the high spiritual ideals of their faith. It is situated at a distance of about two km. from the city of Agra on its northern periphery. It is conveniently connected to the railway stations and bus-stands by the city bus, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and taxis.
[edit] Vision 2011
Dayalbagh Educational Institute has set forth a bold goal for itself: to become one of the top 20 educational institutions in the country by the year 2011. Keeping in line with the original philosophy of education at Dayalbagh, this goal set forth for the institute envisions making D.E.I. a top teaching-cum-research institute, leading others forward with the exemplary system of education that integrates (K-U) i.e. K through 12 through UG/PG to Ph.D. programmes. Education at DEI will reflect a rare combination of state-of-the-art knowledge woven into a fabric that inculcates dignity of labour, and stresses creative multi-disciplinary work experience, cultural and agricultural moorings, and basic values of humanism, secularism and democracy. In fact, Vision 2011 envisages that a major spin-off of DEI's effort to move into the top 20 institutions in India will be its recognition at international fronts for its excellence in instruction and research, within its special social, moral, and spiritual framework.
[edit] References
- ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
