The university was first established in 1791 AD in the form of a Government Sanskrit College in the cultural capital of India, Varanasi, by a proposal of Sir Jonathan Duncan, then Resident of East India Company during the regime of the Governor General Lord Cornwallis. Vedanta, Purana, Ayurveda , Literature, Astrology, Theology, Mimansa, Nyaya and such ancient subjects were taught initially. The excellence of the university lies in its Saraswati Bhawan Library which was established by Prince and Princess of Wales in 1914 AD.
The Saraswati Bhawan library apart from its beautiful building stores millions of Sanskrit texts. As per the Librarian Shri Suryakant Yadav, handwritten texts, letters, literary works and manuscripts of different languages were collected by university from different estates and palaces. There are 1,11,132 manuscripts in Sanskrit, Bangla, Prakrit, Pali and many other ancient languages. The library is one of the rare owners of hand written 'Shrimad Bhagwatam' of 1134 AD.
Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya(SSVV): To highlight the international significance and keep coordination between Indian and Western thoughts and carry out research work, the college was established as Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya 1958 becoming the first Sanskrit University of the world, later renamed as Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in 1973.
WITH THE SUPPORT FROM INFOSYS FOUNDATION, SAMSKRIT PROMOTION FOUNDATION (SAMSKRITA-SAMVARDHANA-PRATISHTHANAM) WILL EXECUTE THIS PROJECT TO PRESERVE THE MANUSCRIPTS.
This project will undertake preservation of the manuscripts at Saraswati Bhavan Library(SBL). The work will be undertaken at the Saraswati Bhavan Library, Varanasi- premises for one year starting from April 2021.