Indian Knowledge Systems, that is the framework IIT Mandi is now drawing upon as it searches for answers to one of the most pressing concerns within India’s premier campuses: student mental health.
Big ranks, high packages and research papers, IITs are known for these. But in recent years, another reality has come into view. India’s top engineering institutes are dealing with a mental health crisis. In the last five years alone, around 65 student suicides have been reported across IITs. But the crisis goes far beyond this number. It is also visible in the stress, anxiety, emotional fatigue and silent pressure that many students carry through some of the country’s most demanding academic spaces.
The issue is not limited to IIT campuses. According to NCRB data cited in Parliament, 13,089 students died by suicide in India in 2022, up from 12,526 in 2021.
It is about stress that does not switch off, anxiety that sits through lectures and lab hours.
The broader youth mental health picture is also concerning.
According to UNICEF India, 7.3% of young people aged 18 to 29 face overall mental morbidity, while an NCERT survey (2022) found that 11% of students reported anxiety and 14% experienced extreme emotions and mood swings.
At a time when the Supreme Court and the government are looking for ways to respond to the crisis, counselling, screening and student support systems are a must now.
In all this, IIT Mandi is taking a route linked to older Indian traditions. When guidelines are followed closely. The institute in the Himalayas is drawing on Indian Knowledge Systems, using practices such as yoga, meditation, mantra chanting and Indian classical music to support student well-being in a more sustained way.
In the last five years, IIT Mandi’s record has been among the best in terms of the lowest number of student suicides. Only one such incident was reported, reflecting the impact of the more inclusive approach the institute has adopted.
MUSIC, MIND AND MENTAL WELL-BEING
Practices such as yoga and meditation, once central to the Gurukul tradition, have now found a place on the IIT Mandi campus. At the institute, questions around consciousness, cognition and mental well-being are not being treated as abstract philosophical concerns alone, but as subjects of active academic inquiry.
Explaining the approach, IIT Mandi Director Laxmidhar Behera said: “The institute’s work on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) is rooted in revisiting knowledge frameworks that ancient India engaged with deeply, but which modern science is only now beginning to examine more seriously.”
The framework of IKS here extends beyond yoga and meditation.
It also includes Indian classical music, ragas, instrumental sounds and even natural soundscapes, some of which have now been brought into the broader learning environment at the institute.
For many students, the impact is already tangible. Several say that even a one-hour daily session helps them decompress, regain focus and manage the mental load of academic life more effectively.
To examine this more systematically, IIT Mandi also carried out a focused study on the impact of Indian classical music on the mind, and the findings offered an important insight into how traditional sound-based practices may influence attention, emotion and cognitive stability.
The IIT Mandi study, conducted in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, sought to examine how Indian classical music influences the brain under controlled conditions.
While listening to music during study is common, this research approached the question through a structured scientific framework.
The study involved 40 healthy male participants aged between 19 and 29, with an average age of 23. None had formal musical training, and all were screened to rule out hearing, neurological or medication-related conditions.
Each participant was exposed to around nine minutes of Indian classical music in a single session, while their brain activity was recorded using an electroencephalogram (EEG), a technique that captures electrical activity in the brain.
To establish a clear baseline, researchers compared brain activity during music exposure with periods of resting silence. Two ragas, Raga Darbari and Raga Jogiya, were selected for the experiment, based on their distinct emotional profiles.
The findings pointed to measurable changes in brain activity. Raga Darbari was associated with improved focus and a calmer mental state, while Raga Jogiya appeared to support emotional regulation and reflective thinking.
Both ragas influenced short-lived but significant neural patterns linked to attention, emotion and mind-wandering, indicating a shift towards more stable cognitive states.
The study suggests that specific swaras (notes) in Indian classical music may play a role in elevating mood and stabilising mental processes. Researchers also noted that these effects were consistent across repeated trials, including follow-up observations with female participants.
They further pointed out that earlier studies have indicated the potential supportive role of raga-based interventions in conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, though such approaches are not presented as standalone cures.
IIT MANDI IS BETTING ON SOMETHING OLD AND INDIGENOUS
These findings suggest that music does not just affect mood, but can also influence cognitive abilities. And among different forms of music, Indian ragas appear to have a stronger impact on attention and mental processing.
Speaking to India Today, Director Laxmidhar Behera said, “Mental health has become a pandemic. We don’t know how to cure it. At IIT Mandi, we have adopted a different approach through classical music, yoga, meditation and mantra chanting.”
Professor Behera, on how Indian classical ragas influence brain activity, explained that such music can support attention, emotional regulation and mental stability.
For Ayan Garg (21), a B.Tech student in Microelectronics and VLSI at the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, the pressure of academics is constant, but the newer interventions on campus have made a difference. He says practices like yoga, meditation and exposure to music sessions are helping him slow down in an otherwise fast-paced routine.
“There is always something to finish, assignments, labs, deadlines. These sessions give a pause in between. It helps clear the mind and return with better focus,” he says, adding that even short breaks built around such practices are beginning to reflect in how he manages stress and concentration.
“It relaxes us and takes away the stress of the day,” says Garg.
AT A GLOBAL LEVEL, SOUND AND FREQUENCY ARE GETTING ATTENTION
The findings from IIT Mandi are not emerging in isolation. Several other studies have also pointed to the role of raga music in improving cognitive performance and mental focus.
A study by Karuna Nagarajan, available on ResearchGate, found that individuals who listened to raga music performed better in attention-based tasks than those who listened to pop music or remained in silence.
The improvement in memory-related tasks was also found to be higher after exposure to ragas.
“I believe all arts can play a major role in aiding mental health, but India classic music in particular because of various factors such as its philosophy of artistic experience (rasa) as a cathartic practice, its improvisatory, in-the-moment nature, its therapeutic vibrational affect (raga), and its deep connection to natural rhythms and seasonal cycles. Indian classical music has the power to calm an anxious mind, ease bodily tensions and soothe the soul. It is a curative experience for mind, body and soul,” says Dr Srinivas Reddy, Associate Professor, South Asian Studies, Nayanta University.
On platforms like YouTube, such content continues to draw millions of views, reflecting a wider public interest in music as a tool for mental well-being.
Across cultures, music has long been associated with the mind, emotion and inner balance. Certain sounds are also linked to spiritual and reflective states. Binaural beats, ambient soundscapes and meditative music are now commonly used for relaxation and concentration.
“When I learned music, I never recorded anything or wrote anything down, it was guru-mukhi, one-on-one intimate training that fostered deep human connection, creativity, dediction and focus. It was an integral experience that involved mind, body and spirit. If we can nurture this kind of traditional pedagogy in our modern classrooms, I believe students will surely benefit in every aspect of their psychological growth,” adds Reddy.
As the conversation around student mental health grows, this raises an important question: if music can influence attention, mood and focus, should institutions that nurture young minds begin to take such practices more seriously?
