Punjabi University, Patiala

Punjabi University is a state public university in Patiala, Punjab, India, established on 30 April 1962 under the Punjab Act of 1961. It began as a residential, non-affiliating university operating from the Baradari Palace, later moving to its present 316-acre campus in 1965, which has since expanded to over 600 acres on the Patiala-Chandigarh road. Initially focused on promoting the Punjabi language, it became an affiliating university in 1969 and now has more than 278 affiliated colleges across nine districts of Punjab, including Patiala, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Bathinda, Malerkotla, Mansa, Mohali, Rupnagar, and Faridkot. The university has more than 70 teaching and research departments spanning Humanities, Science, Engineering, Pharmacy, Law, Fine Arts, Computer Science, and Business Management, and also offers distance learning courses. It maintains four regional centres, seven neighborhood campuses, and 13 constituent colleges. Governance is carried out through the Syndicate, Senate, and Academic Council, with the vice-chancellor as chairman of the Syndicate and the governor of Punjab serving as chancellor. The campus includes landmarks such as the Guru Gobind Singh Bhawan, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha Central Library, and Yadavindra College of Engineering.