Highest number of PhD degrees will be awarded during DU’s convocation this year (Representational image)
The DU convocation ceremony is going to be different this year as all graduating students have been asked to wear Indian attire with ‘angavastra’ (stole) instead of the usual gown used till now.
Delhi University (DU) is set to hold its 99th convocation on 25 February. The convocation will begin at 9:30 am in the Multipurpose Hall, Play Stadium Complex, University of Delhi. President Draupadi Murmu will attend the convocation as the chief guest. A varsity official said that more than 1.5 lakh students will receive their degrees. Dean of Examination DS Rawat said that the maximum number of PhD degrees will be awarded this year.
The convocation ceremony is going to be different this year as all the graduating students have been asked to wear Indian attire with ‘angavastra’ (stole) instead of the usual gown used till now. Delhi University has decided to shun modern wear and adopt a dress “inspired by Indian culture” to promote the country’s traditions and values.
In addition, a convocation committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University about two months ago came up with new design ideas for the dress. The ideas are then presented for approval in both the Academic and Executive Council meetings. “We wanted to change the colonial issues, so we talked about changing the academic dress. In the meetings held, we decided that the administration would wear various Indian traditional dresses and the students would wear Angavastra (stole),” D.S. Rawat, Dean of Examinations he said.
Elaborating more on the costumes, Rawat said that the emblem or symbol on the back of the costumes for both officers and students is the tree of life and the purple front has the logo of the university. The Institute of Home Economics prepared the dress and the samples of the same were presented in the previous Executive Council as part of the agenda for approval, said the Dean of Examinations.
Students will be provided with robes and there will be no graduation cap or gown. Meanwhile, for the officials and guests invited to the event, the dress will be made of pure Khadi silk. Each guest will be provided with one of them as a way of promoting Indian traditions and culture. The color of the Angavastra will be different for the students of Under Graduate (UG), Post Graduate (PG), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and various other categories.
Meanwhile, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh insisted that gowns as a dress code have always been around for a long time. However, the university felt the need to change and take forward the idea of promoting Indian culture.
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