About us

Introduction

The Theosophical society which was dedicated for the establishment of brotherhood, unity and fraternity among the minds of the people was founded in 1875 in New York. But very soon that you founders Madam Blavatsky and  Col.  Olcott realised that the American soil was not quite suitable for the growth of the tender plant of  Theosophy. In the meantime the founders of the theosophical society received an invitation from Swami Dayanand Saraswati to come to India to establish the branches of the Theosophical society. The founders accepted the invitation and they in 1882 established the Theosophical society in Adyar,(Chennai),India. For some time the Arya Samaj and the Theosophical society functioned together but very soon came the parting of the ways. The founders would not confine their activities to one region only, They sought a wider base for the work of the Theosophical society. The founders were quite clear in their mind as to what the society must do, which path it must take and what should be the causes that it should excel in.  They were of the opinion that materialism must be fought tooth and nail and this was done by Madam Blavatsky did with relentless courage.
Madam Blavatsky and Col.  Olcott made a unique team. While Madam Blavatsky  gave the ideological base of modern Theosophy, it was Col. Olcott who provided an intensely pliable and flexible organisation which would be able to channelise  the living waters of the theosophy poured into it.  It was the practical genius of Col.  Olcott  that gave to the world an organisation like Theosophical society which was free from untenable believes and dogmas and yet closely knit together by spirit of Brotherhood in spite of the differences in diversities.
Dr.Besant  gave a wider base to the social and educational work started by Col. Olcott in India. The work of the theosophical society grew  around Mrs Besant  ever since she arrived in this country in 1893. She acquainted herself completely with the situation in the country and with the problems confronting its people by undertaking numerous socio-educational tours covering the entire subcontinent. Mrs. Besants’s work brought a spiritual reawakening among the people of India and during these tour she emphasized the cultural and spiritual heritage of this land. The Pandits of Varanasi for so greatly moved by her work that they honoured her in the ancient city of Kashi by describing her as Sarva-Shukla-Saraswati thus comparing her with goddess Saraswati.  She won the heart of the people of India and their readily  accepted her leadership. She made Varanasi, the holy city of Kashi as her home and from here she organised all her numerous activities. It was here that she started the famous Central Hindu college and school in 1898,an Educational institution which became famous all over the country. This served as a new experiment in the field of national education. In fact by starting these institution she laid the foundation of real national education in India. It was from this educational institutions that she declared the scheme of the four Fold total education mainly for the physical, emotional, mental, moral, and spiritual growth of the students.
 When Mrs Besant  made Varanasi headquarters the ancient city became the centre of all her numerous activities like theosophical, educational, National and International. She drew a large number of eminent people who have helped her in her work. Among these some of the famous eminent philosophers and Educators were Bhagwan Das, Upendra Nath Basu, Gyanendra Nath Chakravarty, Iqbal Narayan Gurtu,      B. Sanjeev Rao and others from among the Indians. There also came a large number of devoted workers from England and Europe to assist her in her numerous projects. Among these some of the noted persons were Dr. Richardson, Francesca Arundale, George S Arundale, EA Wodehouse, Berham Knightly,Helen and Kathlene Weel, Sarah Palmer and many others. Varanasi became a hub of a large number of activities. Very soon the present campus of Theosophical society in Varanasi was purchased by her from the then Maharaja of Banaras.  This campus plus the large campus of Central Hindu college and school gave enough space for the first development of education and Theosophical work. Later on the Central Hindu Girls School was added to this Educational Complex of which Miss F. Arundale was the first Principal.
Mrs. Besant did not accept a pie from the government for financing institution. She herself collected money and most of the donations came from abroad. She gave to these schools a religio-cultural base. She herself addressed the teachers and the students every morning when she was in Varanasi.
The work at Varanasi gave a tremendous fillip to educational work all over the country. Theosophical workers in different provinces or states of India tried their best to make the ideals of Central Hindu School come into force in their own surroundings. Thus by their effort Theosophical institution came into existence in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Sindhu, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. Her scheme was to spread a network of educational institutions all over the country from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
Mrs. Besant  devotion and dedication to the cause of national education in India never shown so brightly as in the incidents that led to the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya wanted to establish a Hindu University in Varanasi for which he had purchased a very vast area of land.But the Government of India refused to give him permission to start such a University, on the ground that he had no constituent college. Pandit Malvi was at a loss to solve this problem. It was at the juncture that Mrs Besant came out with a most generous offer. She offered to Malviya ji her Central Hindu College with all its buildings, Assets and the large campus to enable him to start his proposed University. She did not ask for a single pai in return, on the contrary at the function held in Varanasi to hand over the Central Hindu College and its properties to Malviya ji , Mrs Besant,  after a graceful speech took out from her purse a check of Rs. 50000 and offered it to Malviya ji as an humble donation from her for the starting of University. It was a very moving moment for such generosity has never been seen before.
The work of education started by Mrs Besant in 1898 went on in an uninterrupted manner in Varanasi. After handing over the institution to Malviya ji, two Institutions were immediately started in the campus of the Theosophical Society at Varanasi. One for the boys and other for the girls, called the Theosophical boys School and Vasanta college for Women. These two institutions were later shifted to Rajghat an estate purchased by Mrs. Besant at the Confluence of the Ganga and Varuna river in Varanasi,  in order to enable J. Krishnamurti to carry on his educational work. The Boys School was shifted in 1939 and Vasanta college in 1954 and in their place two other Institutions came into existence which were Besant Theosophical School and Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya. They are still running in the campus of the Theosophical Society at Varanasi.
A brief account of the Besant Theosophical School is to be found as given below. It was on the 1st of July 1939 that the present institution came into existence with the aim to give quality education with the aim of educational, moral and social development of students.

Recognition:
(a) The school as a unit comprising all the three sections as noted above was recognised by Education Department as Anglo Hindustani Middle School (Pre-Independence rules) on 9th March 1946.
(b)The School was put on Government Grant- in aid list and received its first token of Rs. 20 on 27th March 1946 from Director of Public Institution, U.P. Allahabad.
(c) Recognised as a High School by Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Board, Allahabad on 8th April 1946.
(d) Started class ninth on 1st July 1946 with all the subjects prescribed by U.P. Board for the 1948 High School Examination.

Founders:
This institution  was established by the work of many known and unknown workers and members of the society who had contributed their might for the foundation and growth of this institution. Some eminent noted and selfless educationist workers were (i)Shri Gajanan Kanetkar, selfless teacher whose Shishu-Vihar formed  the nucleus for the Besant Theosophical School.This noted educationist died while serving the institution on 7th August 1947 as a teacher.(ii) Shri G N Gokhale, IES the then General Secretary of the Theosophical society and the first manager of the school.(iii) Shri MG Kanitkar, the first headmaster who had joyously given his whole active life for the cause of education in Varanasi.(iv) Shri RV Phansalkar, who served the cause of education with devotion and love and (v) Shri Harendranath Datta, a social worker and the member of the theosophical society.
After the foundation of the institution a band of selfless teachers who had love for the children and cause of education joint hands and started the academic side of the school honestly and sincerely on meagre renumeration. The outstanding names among them are late Shri Gajanan Kanetkar, Shri Nasir Hussain, Smt. Sati Phansalkar, Shri K .K. Mishra, Shri. BC Damle, Smt. Malti Bhandarkar,Shri S. S. Sukul, Shri A N Bhattacharya, Shri BK Damli and Shri BK Verma who worked under the leadership of late   Shri M.G. Kanetkar , the first headmaster.

Management:
Since its Inception the School has been controlled and governed by the Theosophical society of India which is registered society under the Society Act of 1860. The Theosophical society continued to control the affairs of the institution through its General secretary who acted as the manager and a managing committee appointed by it till 1955. The theosophical society of India decided to entrust  the affairs of the school to a registered body which could devote ample time and interest for the Welfare of the school and therefore a new body was created in 1955 named as the “Besant Education Fellowship” which was registered under the Society Act XXI of 1960 Reg.No.330 of 1954-55 on 31-01-1955 and since then this school has been functioning under its control.
The Besant Education Fellowship now functions as the governing body of this school which appoints a manager and a managing committee for three years.
The main objectives of the institution is-