Gurukulam

 

It is the earliest schooling tradition in Hinduism.   It is a non-profit organization. The venue of the school is the Guru or Master's residence or house. The guru allows the students to live together with him.  The Guru  shelter the students and dispel the the darkness of their ignorance with the torch of his knowledge.  The students to live together with him for the entire the time of their courses or education.

It is called as Guru-Sishya parampara (tradition). 

These Gurukuls (school), preserve and spirited the knowledge handed down to us by the Rishis. Till to this date these Gurukuls are the one keeping alive our Vedas, Upanishad, agamas, yogas and also other body of knowledges (vinyana).

In a Gurukul, the sishyas will live under the same roof, irrespective to their social or economic status. A king's son will stay together with a pauper's son. For example, Krishna was Gurukul at their Guru Santipani, together with Kushela (a poor boy). They will be treated equally by the Guru. He let them live together with him. He act as a parent or substitute as a parent, with all the normal forms of parental disciplines. 

He teaches them formal and informal education. The formal education will be the course he is adjoint for. It will be either learning of vedas and religious based knowledge or other skills such as yoga, astrology, medicine, alchemy, language, grammar, martial arts, weaponry,  music, agriculture etc. 

The basic principle of the system is learning by serving. The serve the Guru during the course as he lives in a remote area. The Guru acting as a  parent,  nurture them mentally, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually. The Guru observes the students' characters and temperaments each and everyday. Then, he imparts the knowledge accordingly. The students make the Guru as their role model. They will learn from him and also help him in doing the mundane things like washing, cleaning, gardening, herding the domestic animals, looking for firewoods and etc. The Guru with his flawless character, imbibe moral and ethical values for the students to lead a successful life.  

Till today there is a Gurukul in every part of India