Banaras Hindu University, Banaras

Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, founded in 1916. It incorporated the Central Hindu College, originally founded by Annie Besant in 1898, and was established by Madan Mohan Malaviya with support from the maharaja of Darbhanga Rameshwar Singh, the maharaja of Benares Prabhu Narayan Singh, and lawyer Sunder Lal. With over 30,000 students and 18,000 residing on campus, BHU is the largest residential university in Asia. It is one of eight public institutions declared an Institute of Eminence by the Government of India and one of 12 Indian institutions in the BRICS Universities League. The main campus spans 1,370 acres, donated by Prabhu Narayan Singh, while a south campus of 2,700 acres in Barkachha, Mirzapur district, hosts the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. BHU comprises six institutes, 14 faculties, and about 140 departments, including Arts, Social Sciences, Commerce, Management Studies, Science, Law, Agricultural Science, and Medical Science. Its engineering institute became Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) in 2012. Centralised in 1916 through the Banaras Hindu University Act, it is India's first central university and an Institute of National Importance. In 2024, NIRF ranked BHU 5th among Indian universities.