Rivona or Rishivan

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'Rishivan', as Rivona is believed to have been known in ancient times, was a chosen destination of numerous monks and hermits who set up their hermitages by the bank of the serene River Kushawati. Sanskrit was then the lingua franca of the great seers who roamed through the forests of
Rivona.

Take a stroll down the village towards Takazor by sunrise or sunset, and don't be surprised if you come across a group of dhoti-clad youngsters conversing amongst themselves in fluent Sanskrit.

The lads are among the 30 disciples enrolled for the six-year course in various disciplines of the ancient holy texts called the shastras at the gurukul (ancient residential nature of schooling) in Rivona, set up by the Shree Subramanyam Vangmayee Parishad. The gurukul, named as Shreevidya Pathshala, has already started functioning from the ancient family house of Hemant Prabhudessai, and the trust has plans to construct a new premises for the residential school in the two-acre plot of land which it has already purchased in the vicinity.

Shree Subramanyam Vangmayee Parishad's president Sandip Tengse told STOI that churning out 50 pundits (scholars or masters in shastras) in the next 10 years is among the avowed objectives of the gurukul.