Founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya as a centre for education in Indian art, music, culture and philosophy, and for the study of Sanskrit & it is considered to be the largest residential university in Asia. Varanasi has long been a centre of learning and that tradition is continued today at the Benaras Hindu University( BHU) built in 1917. The five sq kms campus houses the Bharat Kala Bhavan which has a fine collection of miniature paintings, sculptures from 1st to 15th centuries.