The Centre for Indian Knowledge System under IQAC, Handique Girls´ College was formally inaugurated on 13th March, 2025. Noted scholar Prof. Amalendu Chakravarty, Former VC, Rabindranath Tagore University, Hojai delivered the inaugural lecture. Dr. Ranjit Sarma, Principal of the college welcomed the guests. Dr. Pori Hiloidari, coordinator, IQAC, HG College announced the establishment of the centre and its entrusted responsibilities in line of its vision and mission. Prof. Chakravarty, in his lecture showered light on the multidimensional perspectives of the century old knowledge system of India and its significance in the current times. Students and faculties of the college alongwith a few students of Cotton University attended the lecture.
The centre has introduced a Certificate Course on Indian Knowledge System in hybrid mode. This 30 hours course module is designed as per the UGC guidelines. The course is open for UG/PG students, research scholars, faculties, academicians and independent researchers. The course is coded as CCIKS(year/batch).
CCIKS2025: The Certificate Course on Indian Knowledge System2025 is started from 2nd April,2025. 240 participants from different institutions including undergraduate and postgraduate students, research scholars and faculties of colleges, universities and research institutes from different margins of India registered for the course. The course is completely online. Resource Persons engaged in this course are —
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13xd2oqiL1FIt-ATZ1XCE8ueGK3doEpVe
CCIKS2025-2: The second certificate course CCIKS-2 was launched in August, 2025. This 30 hours course was in online mode where a total of 249 participants completed the course successfully. The participants included students of Handique Girls" College as well as students and faculties from different institutions of India. The resource persons engaged in this course were –
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r5wYmDauqO5Ku_tQrto7B6Cw5K2usmcp/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u4P9Yo37VEgQqQ7E7lDprgvGhdhfPFgI?usp=sharing
CCIKS2025-3: The third certificate course CCIKS-3 on “Indian Knowledge Systems and Intellectual Property Rights” was launched in October, 2025. This 30 hours course was in online mode where a total of 169 participants completed the course successfully. The participants included students of Handique Girls" College as well as students and faculties from different institutions of India. The resource persons engaged in this course were –
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XXNa-tAQ30yShf4wkK9ljlaUMx01BG-f/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C33sbt9B--5KkKUtq675ptsrV8dXsZvr?usp=sharing
The centre organized a certificate course on Brahmi script in collaboration with Dept. of Sanskrit and Dept. of History of the college. The course was run from 7th to 16th March, 2026. Script expert Anand Sharma trained the participants on deciphering Brahmi script. In total 67 students successfully completed the course.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1as0e9LuDyBt6gpRNg2ToJAjAVr9T--21/view?usp=drive_link
The department of Political Science in collaboration with the centre organized a 30 hour certificate course on Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems for the in house students of the college in April, 2026
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DXRYRKDrtwgVmxkzIahq6mctE-uM-Nnr/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=104059234190212672162&rtpof=true&sd=true
Dr. Purabi Goswami, Assistant Professor,Department of English, Handique Girls´ College and Jintu Thakuria, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Handique Girls´ College edited an anthology of research article on multidisciplinary perspectives of IKS titled ´Indian Knowledge System: Multidimensional Perspectives´. The book includes 17 research articles authored by 26 scholars from different universities and research institutes of India. The book was launched on 19th April, 2025. Prof. Rakhee Kalita Moral graced the occasion as guest of honour.
To encourage the students of Handique Girls´ College for research on IKS, the centre has initiated microresearch fellowships for the students. The fellowship amount is 5000 Rs. For each project and the duration is of 3 months. The students have to submit a proposal for the fellowship as per official notifications. The proposals are selected through blind peer-review. The selected proposals have to be completed within 3 months. The final report is to be submitted and presented on the dates notified by the centre.
Micro-research Fellowship2025: For the Micro-research Fellowship 2025, two proposals have been selected.
At the successful completion of the projects, both the groups were awarded with the fellowship certificate and grant on 3rd February, 2026.
Micro-research Fellowship2026: Call for applications for the Micro-research Fellowship2026 will be announced in July-August, 2026.
To promote collaborative research projects and enhancement of research skills, the centre has initiated free internship opportunities for interested students from different educational institutions. Currently the centre has 1 intern, Sanjeevani Saikai, a student of PG 4th Semester, Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University. She is working on a project titled ´Reframing Dighalipukhuri´.
The centre on behalf of Handique Girls´ College has signed an MoU with the Directorate of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Govt. of Assam on 19th June, 2025. The purposes of the MoU are to —
Under the MoU signed between the centre and DHAS, 2 projects on translation of 2 rare texts have been completed. The following texts have been translated from English to Assamese and submitted to DHAS in November, 2025.
The Centre for Indian Knowledge System, Handique Girls´ College in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for The Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, and Department of Philosophy, NCC, NSS Units of Handique Girls´ College celebrated the International Yoga Day today on the premise of the college on 21st June, 2025.
Inaugural Lecture: The inaugural lecture of the Centre was delivered by Professor Amalendu Chakravarty, renowned scholar, former VC, RTG University, Hojai on 13.03.2025. Prof. Chakarvarty delivered a very captivating speech enlightening the students and faculties of the college. A few students from Cotton University also participated in the programme.
Prof. Rakhee Kalita Moral, Professor, Department of English, Cotton University delivered a special lecture as the chief guest of the book release program of the centre on 19.04.2025. The book ‘Indian Knowledge System: Multidimensional Perspectives" edited by Dr. Purabi Goswami and Jintu Thakuria is an anthology of selected research articles on the various aspects of Indian Knowledge Systems. In her speech Prof. Moral remarks, ‘this is book is as such which can fulfill today"s needs. It includes women"s role, teaching methods, Vedic Jyotisha and Physics, folk life and methods of North-east India etc. It reflects the interdisciplinary nature of IKS."
1st N.H. Memorial Lecture2025: The first Narayani Handique Memorial Lecture was organized at the Handique Girls´ College by the Directorate of Historical and Antiquararian Studies, Government of Assam in collaboration with the Center for Indian Knowledge Systems and the Department of History, Handique Girls´ College. Professor Chandan Kr. Sarma, Department of History, Dibrugarh University delivered the lecture on ´Ideal Women, Contestantions and Changing Gender Norms in Colonial Assam´. Dr. Ranjit Sarma, Principal of the college welcomed everyone stating, “Narayani Handique´s contribution behind the birth of our college is undeniable. It is very important that our students are made aware of the contributions of great Assamese women like Narayani Handique". Dr. Sangita Gogoi, Director (i/c) , Directorate of Historical and and Antiquararian Studies, Government of Assam said, “If we do not highlight the work and contribution of women like Narayani Handique, the history of our plural social life will remain in darkness. The Handique Girls´ College and the Narayani Handique Institute, today´s Directorate of Historical and Antiquararian Studies were established through the goodwill of Narayani Handique.´ Professor Chandan Kumar Sarma in his lecture said that neo-domestication under the influence of colonial modernization in the nineteenth century paved the way for the oppression of Assamese women by patriarchy. In this regard, he said that the ideals of colonial modernization oppressed women´s lives in Assam through patriarchal norms. Prof. Sarma highlighted the contribution of resistance voices like Narayani Handique of the time, citing many historical sources. More than hundred students and faculties of the college participated in the program. The event was moderated by Dr. Runjun Burman, faculty, Department of History, Handique Girls´ College.
Workshop on Manuscript: A "Three Day Workshop on Reading, Writing Old Assamese Manuscript" was organized in collaboration with DHAS & IFNE from 17th July, 2025. The workshop came to end on 19th July, 2025. The participants were provided their certificates in the valedictory session.
The centre organized a two days book exhibition cum sale at the college premise in collaboration with the National Book Trust, India on 15th & 16th September. The exhibition was inaugurated by Manika Devi, renowned Assamese author and an alumna of the college. The exhibition was organized as a part of the celebration of BOOK YEAR 2025 initiative of Govt. of Assam
The centre organized a two days National level seminar on ‘Reclaiming the Roots: Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Heritage in the context of Indian Knowledge Systems" on 2nd and 3rd February. The seminar was sponsored by the ICSSR Major Research Project of Dr. Biswajeet Choudhury, Head, Dept. of Political Science, HGC and Canara Bank. The Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development collaborated as the academic partner of the Seminar. A total of 93 papers were presented in the seminar exploring the diverse perspectives on IKS. The seminar became a success with participation of paper presenters from the states Manipur, Arunchal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Jammu & Kahmir, Rajasthan and others.
The centre recognizes the contributions of alumni of the college and believes in cherishing its alumni as an enduring source of inspiration, wisdom and excellence. Through sustained engagement with its alumni and their family, the Centre seeks to foster a dynamic exchange of knowledge and shared aspirations ensuring that the legacy of one generation becomes the inspiration of the next.
The alumni engagement activities of the centre are –
