With great passion and enthusiasm, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani celebrated its 72 nd Founders Day on Thursday, 26 th January 2023 (Basant Panchami) in the Institute premises. The Founders Day is celebrated every year on Basant Panchami to mark the Inaugration of Vidya Vihar Campus of BITS Pilani by the First President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in the year 1951. This year too, the celebrations spanned over the entire day, with the participation of a large number of students and faculty members.

In the morning at 8:30AM, Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya, honorable Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, Prof. Sudhirkumar Barai, Director, BITS Pilani, Pilani campus, and many faculty members offered floral tributes at the statue of the Founder Chairman, Late Shri Ghanshyam Das Ji Birla. Thereafter, Thyagaraja Aradhana was organized by Ragamalika, where many students recited beautiful classical “Kritis” originally composed by Saint Thyagaraja. A grand cultural event was organized in the Central Auditorium in the evening at 4:30 PM. To begin the cultural event, Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya, honorable Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, Prof. Sudhirkumar Barai, Director, BITS Pilani, Pilani campus, Col. Soumyabrata Chakraborty, Registrar, BITS Pilani, Prof. S.K. Verma, Dean, Administration, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus along with Dr. Shilpi Garg, Faculty in charge Institute Functions and Ashirwad Karande, President Students Union, BITS Pilani, Pilani campus lit the traditional lamp followed by Saraswati Vandana. A felicitation programme was organized to mark the dedicated and distinguished services of Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff who have successfully completed 25 years of service or more. In addition, 7 Best Performance awards and 15 Certificates of Appreciation were also given to selected non- teaching staff for their outstanding contributions in the functional administration of the Institute. During the ceremony, 10 non-teaching staff who will be retiring this year were also felicitated as a token of appreciation for their committed service to the Institute. There were various dance and musical performances by students belonging to various regional associations, exhibiting the diversity in culture of different states of India. The colorful event ended with the Vote of thanks by Prof. Shilpi Garg, Faculty in charge Institute Functions. Undoubtedly the events were filled with joyful moments and kindled the sense of belonging to the Institute.