Samskrutha, A glorious language: Most of the gems of our cultural and religious heritage (the Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Subhashitams, the Puranas, Ayurveda) originated in this language. Even today, Sanskrit is taught in a few Sanskrit Veda Paathashaalas, as a first language in highschools, P.U., & degree courses.

Unfortunately, its spread outside these specialized schools is limited. Even worse, vested interests have been somewhat successful in spreading the idea that Sanskrit is the preserve of a select few from a particular stratum of society. All this has gone towards creating a general impression that Sanskrit is an inaccessible language that has negligible if not zero relevance in daily life.

This misconception about Sanskrit has been a powerful tool for vested interests to denounce language as dead substance. To remove this misconception, it is necessary to demonstrate in practise that Sanskrit is indeed an accessible language that is versatile enough for practical use. This thought motivated Pandit Girvaana Vaani Bhushanam, Vidyaanidhi Kalale Nadaadur Varadaraja Iyengar to start Sudharma. From its inception to date, Sudharma has been the only Sanskrit Daily Newspaper in the World.

The beginning of Sudharma : On 15th of July 1970, Sudharma, the only Sanskrit daily newspaper in the world, came into being in the Ganapati Sannidhi of Maharaja Sanskrit Paathashaala, Mysore. Pandit Varadaraja Iyengar was the publisher as well as the Founder Editor, for almost twenty years, until his last breath, Pandit Varadaraja Iyengar worked tirelessly and selflessly to make sure that Sudharma regularly reached subscribers’ doorsteps and fulfilled the (high) expectations of Sanskrit lovers. The postal department facilitated the distribution of this newspaper. (5 paise per copy when it began).