JODHPUR

The city with a glorious past with its golden history outlasting mortality in every sense. The Blue City. The Sun City. It has many names but the world stands witness to its grandeur which is unparalleled.

From magnificent forts to mesmerizing sunrises, from blue cityscapes to camel rides, the place is a treasure chest of beautiful destinations. And it is this glorious land which houses one of the 23 IITs of the country : Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur; established in 2008, and shifted to its permanent campus in 2017.    

Welcome to IIT Jodhpur – a place for students eager to explore the rich and diverse fields of technology and to make their dreams turn to reality.  The Institute, with its residential permanent campus spanning 852 acres of land, is located  24 km away from the center of the city of Jodhpur on National Highway 65 towards Nagaur. One can clearly witness reflections of the Sun City in its state-of-the-art architecture although a speedy construction of the remaining part is still under way.    

The permanent campus is being built on a self-sustainable model, catering for its own energy and water requirements with strategies for ensuring NET ZERO ENERGY, WATER and WASTE. The campus’ masterplan got ‘GRIHA Exemplary Performance Award’ under ‘Passive Architecture Design‘ category at the 8th GRIHA Summit.    

   Above, you can see the logo of the Institute with the motto ” त्वं ज्ञानमयो विज्ञानमयो असि” written under it.

It translates to ” You are the entire knowledge and science.” Hence, standing true to the Institute’s vision to promote technology thought and action.   

 MAIN BUILDING

This marks the official entrance to the Institute premises. Better known as the Admin building, it houses various offices such as the Office of Academics or the Office of Students. Most of the document-related work takes place here. And, so, in a way, it forms the backbone in the functioning of an Institute with hundreds of students.   

 LECTURE HALL COMPLEX

 At the heart of the campus, lies the Lecture Hall Complex. It is made of Jodhpur sandstone with double-glazed windows which aid in keeping the building cool and airy amidst the oppressive heat of the region. And that too, at no harm to the environment. LHC is the central place for everything – from lectures to seminars to workshops and even events where the whole Institute comes together as one.It mainly houses two fully air-conditioned spacious auditoriums with a maximum capacity of around 300 and 800 people respectively. In addition to this, it also comprises two smaller auditorium-cum-classrooms to facilitate entertaining a smaller audience. Usually, sessions catering to a small group of students take place here such as sessions for various clubs. Apart from this, there are numerous other classrooms to accommodate a lesser number of students. All the classrooms are fully air-conditioned and equipped with quality Bose speakers and excellent projectors that undoubtedly enhance the learning experience of a student. Also, there’s round the clock Wi-Fi facility available to the students to enable them to expand their storehouse of knowledge. LHC is the center of activity. The heart of the Institute in the real sense. It is here, that a fresher attends his very first session as an IITian as part of the Orientation programme and it is here, that a final year student attends his very last session as an IITian during the Convocation ceremony. The building bears witness to a student’s journey in the Institute; through his ups and downs, highs and lows and some of the most beautiful memories of his college life.    

THE CLOCK TOWER

 Another monumental building of the Institute is the Clock Tower. The Clock Tower stands tall and firm. The time ticking away unites each and every being on the campus as the sound of the gong can be heard from almost every nook and cranny of the Institute. The clock tower stands as a symbol of permanence in a campus that’s growing day by day. It marks the existence of every moment before the moment passes by; thus, bringing to light some great writer’s words:  “Every second is of infinite value.”   

 THE LIBRARY : THE LEARNING HUB

 The clock tower lies adjacent to, perhaps, one of the most significant buildings in any Institute – the place to quench one’s insatiable thirst for knowledge; the place to seek awareness. Yes, it’s the Library. Or better, as we call it, the Learning Hub. It is home to more than 12000+ volumes of books and 6900+ journals on varying subjects encompassing various Engineering streams and Scientific fields, along with printed and electronic copies of theses, project reports and faculty publications in its Institutional Digital Repository. The Institute makes various scholarly journals and databases accessible to the students from reputed sources such as  American Chemical Society, American Institute of Physics, Elsevier’s Science Direct, ASME, IEEE and henceforth. Above the library is a reading room which facilitates the students to study efficiently by providing a more calm and peaceful study environment away from the hassle of hostel life. 

   COMPUTER CENTER    

The same building houses the Computer Center – the one stop resort for all computing activities in the campus. It presently runs on a gigabit LAN with 1 Gbps internet bandwidth, providing access to several licensed software, like Matlab, Mathematica, Cadence, Mentor Graphic, Ansys, PSCAD and Solidworks. It acts as the hub for technological advancement by facilitating high speed Wi-Fi services in the academic and residential areas of the campus.    

 DEPARTMENT BUILDINGS 

 This block comprises separate buildings for each Department such as CSE, EE, ME, Chemistry and so on. Each building houses offices for faculty members associated with their respective department, thus, serving as an effective means to bridge any communication gap between the students and faculty members. Moreover, these buildings hold great significance in the life of a student as they also consist of state-of-the-art laboratories and research centers which play a pivotal role in transforming a mere student into a true engineer, able to tackle real-life problems with practical solutions.       

 HEALTH CENTER  

The campus has a primary health center with a 24-hour emergency room and an ICU ambulance facility. Besides the Health Center, the Institute has empanelled six hospitals in the city of Jodhpur. In addition to this, the Institute has constituted a Medical Board consisting of Senior Doctors from the AIIMS Jodhpur and a Medical College established by the Government of Rajasthan.

COMMUNITY CENTER 

The campus also comprises a community center which caters to the daily needs of students by housing shops to provide basic amenities and services. In addition to this, a branch of the State Bank of India can be accessed too. The campus has ATM facility as well.  

 HOSTELS

   IITJ has hostels with single AC rooms for students, which means, no rooms would be allotted on sharing basis. Along with this, there are other facilities that add to the comfort and relaxation. Every hostel has a TV room, a music room as well as a reading room. Not only this, special attention has been given to ensure a healthy lifestyle for students by providing a gymnasium which is functional 24 x 7 along with a badminton court and a table tennis room. All these add vigour to an otherwise dull hostel life.   

 STUDENTS’ GYMKHANA

  Now, coming to the most vibrant and lively facet of the college : Students’ Gymkhana – a place which unites the students as they work as one for not just the betterment of the Institute but also to live their passion – be it management, sports, art, dance, drama, designing or even, aeromodeling. Students’ Gymkhana at IITJ comprises seven societies and 42 clubs within in toto.They seven societies are as follows:

1. Student Academics and Careers Society

2. Student Campus Life Society

3. Student Cultural and Literary Society

4. Student Design and Arts Society

5. Student Science and Technology Society

6. Student Sports and Games Society

7. Student Elected Representatives Society 

Students get the golden opportunity to showcase their hidden talents and multiply their potential; all this while having fun and making new friends. Life at IITJ is what you make it because this place has an abundance of opportunities for each one willing to take them and grow.    

 FESTS

The Institute holds four annual festivals which seem like a joyous escape from the monotonous daily routine. After all, who doesn’t want a little life in their lives. The major fests are:  

• IGNUS which is an inter-collegiate socio-techno-cultural festival characterised by elements of thrill, excitement and exuberance. One gets to enjoy performances of renowned artists like The Local Train, Ritviz, Mika Singh or even Anukreethy Vas while meeting and interacting with students from various parts of the country. 
•   Varchas is an inter-college sports fest hosted by the Institute which celebrates the spirit of sportsmanship while giving a chance to the budding sports enthusiasts from various colleges to let their hard work bear fruits.
•  Spandan is the intra-college cultural fest of IITJ. With three fun-packed days and an enthusiastic crowd eager to explore the realms of their hidden creativity, Spandan is one of a kind.
•  Nimble which is the intra-college technical fest giving an impetus to the technological development of a student and hence, opening the doors to scientific inventions and discoveries for them. 

 The Institute has recently signed an MoU with NAIST, Japan which implies not just enhanced internship and job opportunities, but also the exposure to enriching life experiences.

 Recently, the world’s most powerful AI system, NVIDIA DGX-2 has been installed in the Institute, enabling the students to enter the world of endless possibilities, that is, the world of AI.  

All in all, there are tons of opportunities here to embrace the new and learn from the old.      

Moreover, IITJ has a Counselling Services team which is always there to lend a helping hand to the ones in need by supporting and guiding them.  

IITJ is a place where you will learn, grow and get a chance to become a better version of yourself as each day passes. It’s a place which will not only endow you with diverse technical knowledge but also teach you life skills.   

We call it our home away from home.

And not just call, we feel it too.    

Thank you!  

PS – I, Divya Singh, a student at IIT Jodhpur compiled the blog. The pictures attached have been clicked by the students of IIT Jodhpur. Credits to their rightful owners.          

The facts and statistics mentioned have been taken from the official website of the Institute, that is, http://iitj.ac.in .