Pontifical Athenaeum: Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK)
The stages of the growth of Dharmaram College very clearly reveal that attention was paid simultaneously to its material, spiritual, and academic aspects. Already in 1965 the College was affiliated to the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and 11 years later, in 1976, the Congregation for Catholic Education by its Decree, “Nobilissimae Indiarum Gentes,” erected in it the Faculty of Theology as an independent Institute with rights to confer the Bachelor’s and Licentiate degrees in Theology and the Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.
Early in 1971, Dharmaram College had instituted a Centre for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) in order to implement and establish the directives of Vatican II concerning inter-religious dialogue in the context of India’s religious pluralism. In furtherance of this objective, the same Centre, in 1975, started the publication of Journal of Dharma (Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies), in order to foster and enhance researches in the fields of dialogue and ecumenism and to contribute to the formulation and development of indigenous Christian philosophy and theology. In recognition of the merits and the significant progress Dharmaram Pontifical Institute made in seven years, the same Congregation by its decree “Antiquissima Indorum Philosophica,” on 8 December 1983 constituted also a Faculty of Philosophy, empowering it to award Licentiate and doctoral degrees in Philosophy.
In the year 1983, Darsana Institute of Philosophy at Wardha was started as the CMI Mission Philosophate with three basic orientations: Missionary, Indian, and Rural. It works as an extension centre of Dharmaram imparting academic training leading to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy (BPh). In the Statutes approved by the Congregation for the Catholic Education on 7 November 1986, the Athenaeum was re-christened as Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK) meaning the Temple of Wisdom in the Garden of Dharma. Samanvaya Theological College was started in 1994 as an extension centre of Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, offering courses leading to the Bachelor of Theology (BTh) degree. Samanvaya (literally meaning ‘Integration’) envisions a theological training programme focusing on the Church’s evangelizing mission in the northern parts of India. The signs of the times challenge us to delineate a new vision and approach in the formation of today’s missionaries. Four philosophical and theological institutes are affiliated to DVK.
In the context of the ever-increasing importance of specialization and research in Oriental Canon Law and taking into account the facilities of DVK in creatively contributing to the overall progress of the Church in India, especially the Oriental Churches, a new Institute was erected at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram by the Congregation for Catholic Education on 29 March 1999. This Institute is aggregated to the Pontifical Oriental Institute (PIO), Rome, and is named Institute of Oriental Canon Law. This institute was inaugurated on 14 July 1999 by Major Archbishop Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil CSsR, then Chancellor of DVK. Growing as a premier institution of theological and philosophical education, DVK gradually developed a separate and independent campus for itself, exhibiting its grandeur and intellectual ambience. Thanks to the generous help of our well-wishers and benefactors such as MISSIO, the Archdiocese of Cologne, and others, the Administrative Block, Theology Block, Philosophy Block, Postgraduate Hostel, Adhyayana Hostel, and a well-equipped Central Library were constructed in due course. The construction work of Dharmaram Research and Pastoral Centre is progressing.
Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram maintains close relationship with St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bangalore, and organises mutually beneficial academic programmes. To foster ecumenical relations and co-operation in theological and related studies DVK has entered into a contract with the United Theological College (UTC), Bangalore. It has also very cooperative academic relations with the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), Whitefield, Bangalore. DVK is a member of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) and of the Conference of Catholic Theological Institutions (COCTI).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Dean, Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte (HIW), K.U. Leuven, Belgium, and Dean, Faculty of Philosophy, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India, on 23 May 2007, which was subsequently renewed in 2011. This MoU envisages legitimate exchange of staff and students between the consenting faculties, based on the mutual recognition of the degrees.
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