Education in Ancient India c7.s7.t2: Ennāyiram Temple College
Education in Ancient India c7.s7.t2
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Ennāyiram Temple College
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¹ S. I. E. R. for 1918, p. 145, Inscription No. 883 for 1917
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The Strength of the College; Subjects Taught: At the beginning of the 11th century A. D. there existed a famous and well organised college at Ennāyiram in South Arcott district, which was an educational institution of the modern type, with a staff of sixteen teachers, engaged in teaching a pre-determined curriculum. The local village community had endowed the college with 300 acres of landed property, thus enabling its authorities to offer free tuition, boarding and lodging to 340 students. The admission of students was governed by the principle of the reservation of a fixed number of seats for different subjects. Thus 75 seats were reserved for the Ṛigveda and Black Yajurveda each, 40 seats for the Sāmaveda, 20 for the White Yajurveda, 10 for the Atharvaveda, Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra and Vedānta each, 25 for grammar, 35 for Mīmānsā and 40 for Rūpāvatāra (?). The institution was thus predominently a Vedic college.
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Number of Teachers: For the Ṛigveda and Black Yajurveda, there were three teachers each, for the Mīmānsā two, and for the rest of the subjects one each. There were 16 teachers for 340 students, and so the average number of students per teacher was about 22. Students therefore must have received personal attention and instructions. Big classes like those existing in modern colleges were unknown.
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Maintenance Allowance to Students: The college supplied free boarding to students, and we have interesting information about the rations allowed per head. Each Vedic student received about one seer of rice per day and this quantity was sufficient for the daily meals. He also received annually an allowances of about one eighth tola of gold, which was probably intended to cover the clothing expenses. The allowance for the students of grammar and philosophy was about 66 per cent higher; the reason for this preferential treatment is not clear.
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The Salaries of Teachers: The normal allowance for the teachers of the college was about 16 seers of rice every day. The cost of an ordinary meal was about half a seer of rice; an ordinary Sanskrit teacher was thus getting as his salary about three times the amount necessary for the food expenses of a family of five. He was thus receiving a salary just sufficient for his normal family responsibilities. He was neither rolling in riches nor suffering from abject poverty. Philosophy (Vedānta) was apparently regarded as a difficult subject, for the salary of the teacher of the subject was 25 percent higher.