Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy


The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, also known as SASTRA, is a deemed-to-be university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. SASTRA is ranked by global ranking agencies such as Times Higher Education and QS. It offers undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral courses in Engineering, Science, Education, Management, Law and the Arts.

History

SASTRA Deemed University started in 1984 in the form of Shanmugha College of Engineering, affiliated to the Bharathidasan University, Trichy. In 2001 it was renamed as Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy. It was the first institution to get the 'Deemed University status' in Tamil Nadu. Srinivasa Ramanujan Center at Kumbakonam is attached to it.
In 2011, software company Tata Consultancy Services set a world record of recruiting 1,755 students from SASTRA, the largest recruitment by any company in the world from a single campus.

Campus

The campus is built on of land. The total built area is about, out of which about are hostels, quarters and guest houses.

Ranking

The QS World University Rankings ranked SASTRA 451-500 in Asia in 2020.
SASTRA was ranked 37th among engineering colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2020, 25th among universities and 48th overall.

Controversy

At the Brahmins Conference held in Kochi on June 2019, Professor of Vaishnavism, M. A. Venkatakrishnan from SASHTRA University made a statement where he compared lower caste humans to dogs and horses, saying that there are as many species of dogs as there are lower caste and upper caste in humans, as well as many species of horses. He also said that there is a difference between a home-bred Pomeranian dog and a hunting dog, just as there is a difference in humans.

Festivals

The first edition of Kuruksastra was held on 2-3 March 2007. The second edition of Kuruksastra was on 6–9 March 2008. The Institution of Engineering & Technology, UK, has accredited 12 programmes of SASTRA Deemed University. With this, SASTRA has become the first university in India to have the maximum number of undergraduate programmes accredited across its two campuses, demonstrating that the programmes are aligned with internationally recognised standards. IET accreditation is an internationally recognised benchmark awarded to high quality programmes that provide an ideal preparation for aspiring professional engineers.
It started the tradition of hosting musical celebrities for a "Pro Nite" show with singers such as Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik, Mahathi, Pop Shalini, Stephen Devassy and Suchitra. It had over 1200 participants, making it one of the largest such festivals in the country.
The College also hosts Various Other Fests for Technical and Sporting Events Including Daksh For Technical Events Sponsored by Various Organisations and Colosseum being An Annual Sports Meet With Various Colleges and Universities across Tamilnadu and India Participate.