Dharmaram is the realization of the dreams of many visionaries. From its very inception, giving leadership in intellectual, spiritual, and contextual formation to the priestly and religious candidates has been one of the perceptible charisms of the CMI congregation. The founding Fathers of the Congregation, namely, Thomas Palackal, Thomas Porookara, and St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara were seminary professors and rectors. Once the religious house at Mannanam was established (1831), a seminary was started, in 1833, attached to the monastery, to impart priestly education both to the religious and the diocesan candidates. In the course of time, there were other seminaries attached to other monasteries like Elthuruth, Mutholy, Koonammavu, and Chethipuzha. The aim was to improve the quality of the priests through systematic formation, efficient teaching, and effective spiritual guidance. According to the first biographer of Chavara, Leopold Beccaro, an Italian Carmelite Missionary, St. Chavara, even as a young cleric, realized that “an uneducated priest was not only inefficient to do anything worthwhile in his pastoral work, but may be even detrimental to the salvation of ‘souls’.” These seminaries inaugurated a new era in theological education and priestly formation of St. Thomas Christians.
The Mannanam Seminary continued to exist and served the Church till 1894, and later it was re-founded in 1918 at Chethipuzha. Listening to the universal call of the Church and understanding the need of the times, Very Rev. Fr. Maurus Valiyaparampil CMI, the then Prior General and Rev. Fr. Jonas Thaliath CMI, who later became the first Bishop of Rajkot, took leadership to transplant the Sacred Heart Seminary at Chethipuzha to Bengaluru. It was the patronage and personal care of late Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, the then Secretary of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, that contributed the most for this providential transfer. It was a response from the part of the CMI congregation to the divine benediction of institutional growth and to the equally divine call to assume wider apostolic responsibilities.
To deepen the roots of the Indian cultural, spiritual, and philosophical heritage the visionaries re-named the seminary as Dharmaram College. Composed of two Sanskrit words, Dharma (righteousness, duty, virtue) and Arama (garden), “Dharmaram” signifies the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sanatana Sadguru (Eternal Master) of this Gurukulam (House of the Master). The foundation stone of Dharmaram College was blessed by Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, on December 08, 1953 and was laid by Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury of Bangalore. Dharmaram College was formally inaugurated on February 23,1958 by Most Rev. John Robert Knox, the Papal Internuncio to India, although it started functioning on June 01, 1957 itself. Dharmaram, true to her name, was from its inception giving special attention to an Indian orientation in the academic, spiritual, liturgical, and cultural endeavours and promoted inculturation, dialogue, and ecumenism in the Church and in the country.
The stages of the growth of Dharmaram College very clearly reveal that attention was paid simultaneously to its material, spiritual, and academic aspects. Already in 1965, the College was affiliated to the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and 11 years later, in 1976, the Congregation for Catholic Education by its Decree, “Nobilissimae Indiarum Gentes,” erected in it the Faculty of Theology as an independent Institute with rights to confer the Bachelor’s and Licentiate degrees in Theology and the Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. Early in 1971, Dharmaram College had instituted a Centre for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) in order to implement and establish the directives of Vatican II concerning inter-religious dialogue in the context of India’s religious pluralism. In furtherance of this objective, the same Centre, in 1975, started the publication of Journal of Dharma (Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies), in order to foster and enhance researches in the fields of dialogue and ecumenism and to contribute to the formulation and development of indigenous Christian philosophy and theology. In recognition of the merits and the significant progress, Dharmaram Pontifical Institute made in seven years, the same Congregation by its decree “Antiquissima Indorum Philosophica,” on December 08, 1983 constituted also a Faculty of Philosophy, empowering it to award Licentiate and doctoral degrees in Philosophy.
In 1983, Darsana Institute of Philosophy at Wardha was started as the CMI Mission Philosophate with three basic orientations: Missionary, Indian, and Rural. It works as an extension centre of Dharmaram imparting academic training leading to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy (BPh). In the Statutes approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education on November 07, 1986, the Athenaeum was re-christened as Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK) meaning the Temple of Wisdom in the Garden of Dharma. Samanvaya Theological College was started in 1994 as an extension centre of Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, offering courses leading to the Bachelor of Theology (BTh) degree. Samanvaya (literally meaning ‘Integration’) envisions a theological training programme focusing on the Church’s evangelizing mission in the northern parts of India. The signs of the times challenge us to delineate a new vision and approach in the formation of today’s missionaries. Two philosophical and three theological institutes are affiliated to DVK.
In the context of the ever-increasing importance of specialization and research in Oriental Canon Law and taking into account the facilities of DVK in creatively contributing to the overall progress of the Church in India, especially the Oriental Churches, a new Institute was erected at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram by the Congregation for Catholic Education on March 29, 1999. This Institute is aggregated to the Pontifical Oriental Institute (POI), Rome, and is named Institute of Oriental Canon Law. This institute was inaugurated on July 14, 1999 by Major Archbishop Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil CSsR, then Chancellor of DVK.
The Congregation for Catholic Education raised Vinayasadhana into an Incorporated Institute in the Faculty of Theology on 31 May 2021 (Prot. N. 1101/2019; 131-134,136-138, N.422/2021). Now the Vinayasadhana Institute is entitled to confer Doctorate in Theology (PhD) with specialization in Formative Spirituality and Counselling. The Congregation had already granted permission to confer the Master of Arts in Formative Spirituality and Counselling on 12 December 2003 through the letter of promulgation (Prot.N.946/2000/21-727/79), and Licentiate (LTh) in Theology with specialization in Formative Spirituality and Counselling to those who are eligible for the degree (Prot. N.946/2000) on 28 October 2010. The eligible candidates also get a UGC recognized MA from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. The Incorporated Institute also offers a one-year diploma course in formative spirituality and counselling.
Growing as a premier institution of theological and philosophical education, DVK gradually developed a separate and independent campus for itself, exhibiting its grandeur and intellectual ambience. Thanks to the generous help of our well-wishers and benefactors such as MISSIO, the Archdiocese of Cologne, and others. The Administrative Centre, Theology Faculty, Philosophy Faculty, DVK Research Centre, Adhyayana Hostel, a well-equipped Central Library, DVK Annex, and KECSH, were constructed in due course.
Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram maintains close relationship with St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bengaluru, and organises mutually beneficial academic programmes. To foster ecumenical relations and co-operation in theological and related studies DVK has entered into a contract with the United Theological College (UTC), Bengaluru. It has also very cooperative academic relations with the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), Whitefield, Bengaluru. DVK is a member of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) and of the Conference of Catholic Theological Institutions (COCTI).
Mar Jonas Thaliath, CMI the Mastermind behind Dharmaram, said: “The only worthy act of gratitude on the part Dharmaram will be sending out year after year of preachers of the Good News, who will reflect in all that they do and say, the ineffable beauty and goodness of Christ, our Master and Lord.” It is with a profound sense of gratitude that we remember that over 3500 young men and women who have received effective spiritual and intellectual priestly formation here, work all over the world for the flowering of God’s Kingdom on earth. In several fields of life, today, our past students are rendering excellent services. During the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Dharmaram College in 2007, Dharmaram Alumni Association was launched to link the past members with the present and the future ones. During the 2009 Convocation the DAA was officially inaugurated by His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malankara Church, an Alumni of DVK, who kindly consented to be the President of Dharmaram Alumni Association. Also the Vice President is another Alumni, Augen Mar Kuriakose, and Episcopa of the Church of the East. The Secretary is Rev. Fr. Donald SMM. In order to share information about the developments in DVK and Dharmaram and also to share and diffuse information about the achievements of the past members provision is made in the official website of DVK (www.dvk.in). All the past students are cordially invited to join in the Alumni Association by filling up the Alumni section of the website.
Director: Dr. Jeff Shawn Jose, CMI
Email: registrar@dvk.in
The Office of the Coordinator of the Postgraduate Programmes is instituted in order (1) to promote the spirit of interdisciplinary approach among the postgraduate students of theology, philosophy, canon law and formative spirituality and counselling, (2) to coordinate inter-faculty/departmental programmes, such as general orientation, seminars, conferences, and extension lectures, (3) to organize, in whatever way possible, common classes in optional subjects, languages, methodology, etc., and (4) to facilitate community mining, in order to create an atmosphere of mutual appreciation and understanding among the postgraduate students.
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Paulachan Kochappilly, CMI
Email: paulachan.kochappilly@cmi.in
The office of Coordinator of International Relations is instituted to look into possibilities of collaboration between DVK and international Institutes and Faculties of academic excellence and of signing and implementing MoUs.
Director: Dr. Babu Paul Kalathuparambil, CMI
Email: fbpaul@gmail.com
The office of affiliations is instituted to assist Fr. President and the Deans to process the requests for affiliations and their renewals.
Director: Prof. Dr. Paulachan Kochappilly, CMI
Email: paulachan.kochappilly@cmi.in