With the awakening of national consciousness
in the early years of the last century, a few notable efforts were made
in British India to improve the system of education prevalent in India
during that time. Gujarat Vidyapeeth, started by Mahatma Gandhi, aimed
at preparing youth to serve and uplift the rural masses; Shantiniketan
tried to bring the cultures of the East and West into Universal
harmony; Jamia Milia tried to educate the Muslims in keeping with the
needs of the main Stream of National life; and the Gurukul Kangdi aimed
at preserving the cultural heritage of the nation keeping with the
requirements of the modern age. Inspired by the same spirit, Pandit
Janardan Rai Nagar established the 'Rajasthan Vidyapeeth' in 1937 to
uplift the down-trodden common man in the feudal state of Mewar.
Started as a night Study Centre for the Elementary, secondary and
Advanced Courses in our national language Hindi, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth
has grown into a large complex of more than 50 institutions spread over
several districts of Rajasthan.

    Historically, Rajasthan has
been a paradise for knowledge seekers, as it has a rich and Royal
cultural heritage in the form of manuscripts, historic documents,
icons, epigraphs and monuments. Late Manishi Pandit Janardan Rai
Nagar's initiative and vision led him to start the Prachin Sahitya
Shodh Sansthan in 1941 to preserve, edit, translate and publish old
manuscripts. Probably, it was a unique Institute of its kind in
Rajasthan, which was established for the conservation of cultural
heritage.

    After the historic event of the unification of
Rajasthan, 'Hindi Vidyapeeth' added new dimensions to its basic
objectives. It became a leading Non-Government Organisation during the
course of its journey and the founder Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar renamed
it as Rajasthan Vidyapeeth.

    Early sixties proved to be the
landmark in the history of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth when it decided to meet
the challenges, which started springing up after independence. The
first Prime Minister had deep faith in democracy and he decided to
spread the message of sharing responsibilities at the grass-root level.
As a result the Panchayati Raj institutions came into existence.
Rajasthan Vidyapeeth also decided to join hands with the GOI to share
this responsibility and established Community Centres Department and
Janata College during the Second Five-Year plan. The objective was to
provide benefits to the people of remote villages. It was the beginning
of the full-fledged Institute of Adult & Continuing Education.
During this period, Vidyapeeth started the new unit, which is called
JANPAD, with the objective of propagating the knowledge of day-to-day
local and national affairs for the urban society through black-board /
broadcast service mass communication being the aim.With the dawn of
independence, there was a dire need to provide opportunities for higher
education to the underprivileged section of the society, specially in
the Tribal belt. The Evening College (Shramjeevi College) was the
outcome of this idea. The basic objective of establishing the Evening
(Shramjeevi) College was to admit the students who worked during
day-hours and wanted to educate themselves for better job
opportunities. During this period Rajasthan was also emerging as a
potential state of Union Government of the India. Availability of
trained professionals for industry / business was the urgent need of
the time.

    Keeping this in view,
Vidyapeeth initiated a Postgraduate course in the discipline of Social
Work(MSW). Today, a large number of its alumni are working in various
positions in Personnel and Management field throughout the country and
abroad.
A number of other institutes like Higher Secondary School,
Secondary School, Post-basic School and the Centre for Fine Arts were
also started by Vidyapeeth to provide education to all the sections of
the society. The College of Teachers' Training was another major event
on the path of progress of Vidyapeeth during the seventies.
A
special features of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth administration is what we call
the 'Janatantriaya Shilanyas' (Democratic Foundation), i.e. its
democratic way of life and work. Vidyapeeth is organized and run
entirely by its workers and its basic philosophy is to provide
opportunity of participation to each worker in the decision making
process through various constituent bodies. The entire administration
is divided into three-spheres or streams-social, educational and
general management administration. Each of these spheres has its own
elected or nominated leader and body for the management of its affairs.

   
The prestige enjoyed by it during all these years is reflected in the
fact that eminent personalities like Late Shri Bhopal Singh, Maharana
of Mewar, Dr. Karan Singh of Kashmir, Shriyut Srimannarian, Mahapandit
Shri Rahul Sankrityanan, etc. have graced the chair of Chancellor of
Rajasthan Vidyapeeth. The eminent persons, who visited Vidyapeeth,
include Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Jai Prakash Narain, Vinoba Bhave,
Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and Dr.Radha Krishnan. Col. Tod
completed his historic book 'Annals and Antiquities of Rajputana'
during his stay in the campus of this institution.

   
The year 1987 was the landmark in the history of Vidyapeeth when the
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and the
University Grants Commission granted it the status of a
Deemed-to-be-University. Since then, a number of different types of
courses, including professional ones, for the benefit of the society,
have been launched. Its guiding objectives have invariably been to
provide research based qualitative education to community through
preservation and conservation of our socio-cultural values.