Mahamati Prannath Mahavidyalaya is situated 70 Km from Allahabad at Mau on the Allahabad-Jhansi highway (NH 76). The institution, named after the renowned Bhakti saint Mahamati Prannath, was established in 1982 to facilitate a liberal arts education in Mau, a primarily rural sub division of Chitrakoot district. There was then no institution for higher education in Mau, and the nearest such centres were either 70 kilometres away in the city of Allahabad, or 80 kilometres distant in the township of Atarra. However, students even in that constraining milieu had proceeded to acquire higher education in these and other centres. Higher education was largely inaccessible to girls from the area in the prevailing socio-cultural scenario. Education to women was also a significant factor driving the courageous resolve of the group of individuals who decided to found a college in their native village. The college was started with meagre resources in a functional structure consisting of six rooms and quite basic facilities. One is naturally moved to pay tribute to the spirit of philanthropy and social vision of the idealistic core group comprising academics, bureaucrats, social workers, and entrepreneurs, which braved such odds in this noble endeavour. The pioneer in this group was the academician Matabadal Jaiswal, Professor of Hindi in the University of Allahabad. It was largely due to his unceasing endeavour that the foundations of the college came to be laid. The Government of Uttar Pradesh through a department grant enabled the college society to deposit the one time amount needed for affiliation to Bundelkhand University. The college was subsequently granted permanent affiliation by Bundelkhand University and included in 1988 by the government in the category of colleges receiving grant in aid for salaries to staff and faculty. Concurrently, the faculty began to be recruited through the statutory body in this regard, The Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission. In 1996 the managerial powers were vested by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in the office of the District Magistrate who was made the Authorised Controller of the college. The arrangement has since then been extended every year.

By the early nineties, the college soon gained a reputation in the region for its academic atmosphere and fair conduct of examinations. With the passing years there has been significant improvement in the employability of its students. Sine some recent years, the majority of its students has come to be comprised of girls. The college has endeavoured to familiarise students, in the initial weeks of every academic session itself, with the objectives and mission of the institution to introduce an academic culture in the student community in accordance with the general objectives of the graduate system of the country along with the aspirations which lay behind the establishment of the college in Mau. It is a matter of some satisfaction that the student community has generally tried to be sincere in pursuance such aims.

The objective of founding the institution lay in the providence of a graduate degree, for further pursuance of education and employment, in a limited spectrum of 6 disciplines – English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Economics, History, and Political Science. The objectives of the institution have however not remained confined to a simple transference of information and knowledge. In addition to the primary function of enabling the students for further educational qualifications, the institution aspires to inculcate civic and ethical awareness required from members of a responsible ethical citizenry. Towards this aspect, teaching the curriculum has on the part of the faculty involved a linkage with crucial issues regarding marginalisation, gender, economy, ecology, culture and society.

Mahamati Prannath

Mahamati Pranath was a prominent Bhakti saint in 17th century India. He was born on 6 October 1618, to Keshav Thakkar and Dhan Bai, in a Kshatriya family at Jamnagar in Gujarat. Keshav Thakkar was the head of the Nawanagar state. Named in childhood as Meharaj, the child subsequently became famous by the name of Prannath. He was well versed in all the scriptures of the different religions available in languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Urdu and Persian and reflected spiritual accomplishment from the very early stages of his life. His preceptor Shri Devchandraji appointed Mahamati Prannath as his successor in the religious sect named as Shri Krishna Pranami Dharma. He spread the message of his preceptor and the teachings of ‘Nijanand Community’ through Northern India and in many Arabian countries. It is acknowledged that Prannath synthesized beautifully religious and scriptural ideas of texts such as the Vedas, the Quran and the Bible etc. He further brought together many religious sects under the banner of Shri Krishna Pranami sect and founded a universal religion that he called Nijananda Dharma. His disciples revered him and proclaimed him as Vijayabhinand Nishkalank Buddh Avatar. However, Mahamati Prannath was occasionally subject to the whimsicalities borne of the sectarian convictions of certain monarchs of his time. Being convinced of the deleterious effects of such monarchical parochialism, and a firm believer in tolerance and harmony, Prannath motivated the scion of the Bundeli dynasty, Chhatrasal, to confront the sectarian and imperialistic policies of emperor Aurangzeb. Chhatrasal engaged in numerous battles with Aurangzeb and with the blessing and guidance of Mahamati Prannath, emerged superior from most of them. Mahamati Prannath spent the last span of his life in Panna, the Capital of Chhatrasal, who had become his disciple and who granted equality to both Hindu and Muslim. Mahamati Prannath was a great patriot and cherished particularly the unity of Hindu-Muslim unity. His teaching and ideas were compiled by his closest disciple Swami Lal Dasji in his life time, and Keshavdasji published in 1694 the total corpus named Kuljum Swarup in fourteen volumes. Prannath passed away on 29 June 1694 at Panna. His ideas remain as relevant today as in the seventeenth century.