TRUST

In post-independence India, good schools and colleges came up quickly in urban areas. With the immediate and large patronage, these institutions were going from strength to strength. Urban children had an advantage over their rural counterparts. The Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust was founded in 1958 by Mr O V Alagesan, freedom fighter and former Union Minister, to address this issue. Both Bhaktavatsalam (freedom fighter and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) and Alagesan were Gandhians and visionaries, who made immense contributions to nation building. The trust started the first of many rural schools in Athur – Bhaktavatsalam Shashtiapdapoorthi High School (in commemoration of Bhaktavatsalam’s 60th birthday). Later in the same year, recognising the need for a technical education institute in Kanchipuram, the Bhaktavatsalam Polytechnic was established in 1958.

​

The founder chairman, in his first break from parliamentary life, established the first of the Brindavan schools in Coonoor in 1969 to counter the fact that public schools catered almost exclusively to the elite. The Coonoor school had a modest student intake of 13 students in its first year. Within a few years, the school built a reputation of providing exemplary, yet accessible, public school education to a broader cross section of society. Building on this success, Brindavan Public School, Athur was established in 1973, in the founder’s home district. The Kodaikanal school was founded in 1983, on the banks of the idyllic Kodaikanal lake. Today, the 3 Brindavan schools are home to 2500+ students and graduate over 200 students each year.