CIIL Mysuru Launches Two-Week Orientation on Indian Grammar Tradition

A two-week orientation programme on the *Indian Grammatical Tradition* began at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysuru, drawing scholars, teachers and researchers from across the country. Running from August 31 to September 14, the programme has attracted around 900 applications, with 163 participants finally selected from Central and State Universities, IITs, IIITs and language research institutes.

Guest of honour Prasad Joshi highlighted Pāṇini’s *Aṣṭādhyāyī* as a landmark in systematic linguistic analysis, while special guest Saroja Bhate spoke of the influence of Pāṇini and Patañjali on India’s wider intellectual traditions. Both stressed that Indian grammatical scholarship extends well beyond Sanskrit to include Pali, Prakrit, Tamil and other regional languages.

CIIL Director Basavaraja Kodagunti noted the overwhelming response reflected a genuine need for sustained study of India’s grammatical heritage, with participants engaging with languages from Tamil and Kannada to those of the north-east. The 56 academic sessions, led by 22 experts, aim to give participants intensive exposure to the diverse dimensions of Indian grammatical traditions and their relevance to contemporary language studies.