Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Academic Dean of BRC, Radharaman Das, Vice President, ISKCON Kolkata, along with Scottish Church College Principal, Vice-Principal, Head Librarian, and others.

Kolkata, being Srila Prabhupada’s appearance place, holds the unique distinction of being home to numerous special sites intimately associated with his life, particularly from his childhood and youth. One such place is his alma mater, Scottish Church College, where Srila Prabhupada studied as an undergraduate.

Srila Prabhupada often reminisced about his time as a student there, sharing vignettes of his relationships with his Scottish professors, particularly noting their penchant for philosophy, meeting the Marquis of Zetland, participating in theater, engaging in the English and Sanskrit societies, and more. Over a century later, Srila Prabhupada’s memory remains vividly alive and deeply honored by the college’s authorities, faculty, and students. To this day, at every event, large or small, the college fondly recalls Srila Prabhupada as being among its most illustrious alumni and proudly celebrates his enduring, worldwide impact.

In recent years, the Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) has actively collaborated with Scottish Church College on several projects aimed at preserving and celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s legacy within the college’s thriving academic community. Especially notable among these initiatives was the establishment of the A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Memorial Award, presented annually to the most meritorious student based on university final results and to a faculty member for exceptional community service.

The latest milestone has been BRC’s sponsorship of the refurbishment of a seminar hall, which was formally inaugurated on November 6, 2024, and named by the college as the “Sri Abhay Charan De Seminar Hall” in honor of Srila Prabhupada. This marks the first time in the college’s history that an infrastructure facility has been named after an individual, thus making this dedication an especially significant tribute. This event also marked the launch of the Darshan Eshana Digital Library, another major project that BRC has been developing in partnership with the college.

Inauguration of the Sri Abhay Charan De Seminar Hall.

The Sri Abhay Charan De Seminar Hall has been equipped with cutting-edge technology, including a projector, a modern interactive digital board, and flexible arrangements for hosting seminars and group discussions, both offline and online, with participants from around the world. In short, it has everything needed to facilitate an immersive, high-quality learning experience for students.

The Darshan Eshana project is an ongoing initiative focused on digitizing the college’s extensive collection of philosophical books. The college’s philosophy library comprises an impressive array of rare and antique books. To date, over 700 ancient books, documents, and manuscripts have been digitized, with many more to come, thereby preserving these invaluable literary relics for current and future generations of students and researchers.

Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Academic Dean of BRC, is overjoyed at this recent achievement: “To have been a part of this initiative honoring Srila Prabhupada is truly overwhelming. It was indeed nothing but Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that allowed this endeavor to be realized so successfully. It has been a dream come true for us.”

The seminar hall and digital library were inaugurated at a well-attended ceremony by Rt. Rev. Dr. Paritosh Canning, Bishop of Calcutta and President of the College Council, and Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Academic Dean of BRC, in the presence of college principal Dr. Madhumanjari Chaubey née Mandal, Dr. Swapan Kumar Mukhuty, Secretary of the College Council, along with other distinguished guests, including Radharaman Das, Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata, Scottish Church College faculty members, and students.

Principal Dr. Madhumanjari Chaubey née Mandal conveyed her appreciation for BRC’s contributions, stating, “I extend our deepest gratitude for all the support from BRC, without which it would not have been possible to transform this room in our main building into a beautiful seminar hall and establish the Darshan Eshana Digital Library for philosophical works. I thank all the members of BRC and ISKCON who played a vital role in inaugurating these valuable additions to the college, making it a memorable occasion.”

The following day, during his visit to Kolkata, Radhanatha Swami also visited Scottish Church College with several devotees. He met with the college principal and was incredibly pleased and gratified to see the new Sri Abhay Charan De Seminar Hall.

Gauranga Das, Administrative Director of BRC, expresses deep satisfaction with this latest milestone: “Every initiative to honor and preserve Srila Prabhupada’s legacy is an enduring contribution to society, as it creates one more way for people to connect with and be reminded of Srila Prabhupada and his teachings, which continue to transform countless lives every day. To have that done anywhere is invaluable, to say nothing of in a place so intimately connected with Srila Prabhupada and one that has such a deep and ongoing impact on hundreds of students and scholars every year.”

The Bhaktivedanta Research Center would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to its esteemed patrons and supporters for their valuable partnership:

Smita Krishna Goswami, Devamrita Swami, Candramauli Swami, Jayapataka Swami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Radhanath Swami, Ambarisa Das, Sri Sri Varaprada Venkateswara Swamy (Balaji Temple & Cultural Center, Bellevue, WA-USA), Krishna Chandra Das, Keshava Das, Namamrita Devi Dasi, Meenakshi Rudra, Braja Hari Das, Yudhistir Govinda Das, Dayarama Das, Braja Vilasa Das, Vraja Kishore Das,  Adi Purusa Das, Vraja Raja Das, Damodar Hari Das, Anand Manaktala, Visvakalyana Gaura Das, Vraja Raman Das, Krishna Kumar Das, North American Institute of Oriental Sciences (NIOS), Nitai Gaursundar Das, Krishna Kirtan Das, Yasodanandana Das & Syama Sakhi Devi Dasi, Balarama Lila Das, Akrura Das, Satya-sara Das, Ram Mukunda Das, Shyam Hari Das & Prem Kumari Devi Dasi, Shaligram Krishna Das, Prem Niketan Das, Ramesta Das, Chandra Sekhar Guntupalli, Sridhar Gopal Das, Chaitanya Sundar Das, Kiran Rapolu & Revati Devi Dasi, Vishwatma Gopinath Das, Balramkumar Srivasatava, Raja Nagarajan, Krishna Chaitanya Das, Madhava Chandra Das,, Radhananda Das, Govindadev Das, Sundarananda Das, Ram Das, Sadananda Das, Acyuta Lila Das, Shweta Pandey, Ananta Acharya Das, Abhishek Jajodia, Amarender Bilapati, Haridas Varya Das, Dwarkadhish Das, Rajesh Solanki, Dr. Snehal Donde, Radharadhya Das, Srinivas Sharan Das, Hema Sundari Devi Dasi, Hare Krishnananda Das, Ramesvara Das, Navina Krishna Das, Anandini Sundari Devi Dasi, Jyoti Pravin Purohit, Dr. Shekhar Shukla, Mahendra Singh Rawat, Ramapriya Das, Vidagdha, Madhava Das & Kirtida Devi Dasi, Mokshyalakshmi Devi Dasi, Dhananjaya Das, Gadadhara Chandra Das, Nityananda Vilas Das, Prashant Devatraj, Rasesvara Das, Tushar Bhole, Amritananda Das, Arun Rangachari, Janardan Das, Sacisuta Das, Shyamlal Das, Braja Kripa Das, Darshan Shinde, Shyam Mohan Das, Koumudhi Kammari, Lileshwari Devi Dasi, Shravya Kanchi, Srngi Das, Suresh Amin, Janardan D. Bahirat, Ansul Agarwal, Sreenivas Gopal Das, Madhusudan Reddy Gunna, Roopendra Singh, Hari Vallabh Das, Padmanabha Das, Sachi Prana Das, Abhishek Mantha, Murari Krishna Das, Lavanga Mangal Devi Dasi, Sarang Thakur Das, Shivam Gupta, Gaurachandra Das, Veerchandra Das, Manish Goyal, Rasamrita Das, Sakshi Gopal Das, Chaitanya Bhagavan Das, Gauranga Prem Das, Ajit Kumar Garg, Avatari Chaitanya Das, Aristaha Das, Sripati Das, Krishna Murali Das, Aniruddha Patel, Radha Giridhari Das, Satcitananda Das, Murlidhar Das, Vishwarupa Das, Hari Kirtan Das, Madhava Gauranga Das, ISKCON Attapur, Pranava Das, Sarla Thakker, Sri Sakhi Devi Dasi, Hercules Pigments Pvt. Ltd., Koel Colours Pvt Ltd, JABS International Pvt. Ltd., Vaishali Kamat, Praveen Krovvidi, Braja Prakash Das, Vipra Sudama Das, Prahlad Priya Das, Haridev Krishna Das, Vidura Das, Sujit Sengupta, Shailen Ramanlal Desai, Mukund Ras Das, Priyadarshan Das, Subuddhi Raya, Sundarananda Das, Chetan Hazaree, Vidagdha Madhava Das & Kirtida Devi Dasi, Giriraj Sakha Das, Prahlad Bhakta Das, Advaita Chandra Das & Kalasudha Devi Dasi, Jai Gaurahari Das, Ketan B. Parmar, Hemang Gaur Das, Manish Srivastava, Ashvin Gami, Gopinath Rasa Das, Amol Katkar, Atul Madhava Das, Nadiya Kishor Das, Dr. Amar Shah, Hladini Gopika Devi Dasi, Ananda Kumar & Madhu Kumari, Sai Suman, Krishna Kishore Das, Sakshi Gopal Das, Satyaraj Das & Abhijeet Deulkar

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