At times when Sanskrit is spoken by less than 1% of India’s population, not only do villagers use the language in their daily life but they are also ready to teach it to someone interested.
With changing times the inclination towards the language of Sanskrit is gradually fading away. However lesser takers of the language has not stopped Karnataka’s Mattur from keeping at pace with the ancient language in modern times.
Mattur is a village in the southern state where you will often hear people use Sanskrit phrases like Bhavatha nam kim, Katham asti and Coffee va chaayam kim ichchhathi bhavan in eloquent Sanskrit tone and tenor.
Here slogans painted on walls are ancient quotes such as Maarge swachchataya virajate, grame sujanaha virajante (Cleanliness is as important for a road as good people are for the village).
A village with one foot in Vedic times, Mattur is one of few places where residents still converse in Sanskrit.
It all started in 1981 when Sanskrita bharati started promoting the language. Not very long back they held a 10 day workshop.
Mettur is located on the banks of the perennial river Tunga.
An agrarian village it cultivates areca and paddy. Inhabited by the Sankethis for over 600 years.
Sankethi is a mixture of Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada, and bits of Telugu.
Sanskrit curriculums are very much a part of the way of life in schools with vedic chants and Sanskrit lingo being part of the study modules. Students learn them meticulously in a five-year course.
Over years, many students from abroad had undergone crash courses at the pathshala to learn the language.
Most speak the language fluently. The old and young speak in Sanskrit with equal elan and ease.
The schools in Mattur have some of the best academic records in the district.
Mattur has produced over 30 Sanskrit professors who are teaching in Kuvempu, Bengaluru, Mysore, and Mangalore universities.
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