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A gurukula or gurukulam ( गुरुकुल ) was a type of residential school in ancient India. Here the shishya (students / disciples) lived near or with the guru in the same house. This was not uniqely Hindu. The guru-shishya system was a sacred tradition. It was followed by religious faiths in India, including Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The name of the school, gurukula, combined the Sanskrit words guru (teacher / master) and kula (family /chome). Before the arrival of the British, the gurukula was the primary educational system in South Asia. The term is used in India today to refer to residential monasteries or schools operated by modern gurus who coninue to teach. The students / descipls lived together equals in a democratic society. [Kashalkar, pp. 81-84.] This was disregarding social standing, althogh thy all came from the privlidged classes. They were instructed by the guru and acted as his personal servants. Some observers suggest that even the mundane domestic tasks they performned serving the guru were an importnt part of the educationl system, teaching self-discipline among theyouuthful followers. Traditionally a guru does not receive fees from the shishya because the relationship between a guru and the shishya was consuidered sacred and money would hve ben seen as pollutant. The students could be away from their home for an extended period, monts or years. They were separed from their family completely. By the time the British begn to seize control of India (18th cenbtury), the gurukula system had declined significantly. Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj and Swami Shraddhanand pioneered a revival of a modern gurukula system (1886). [Ujjwal, pp. 96-97.] They founded the now-widespread Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Public Schools and Universities. Shastriji Maharaj Shree Dharamjivan das Swami after indeoendence initiated the first Swaminarayan gurukula in Rajkot in Gujarat state of India (1948). More recently, several gurukulam have opened up in India as well as overseas seeking to cintnue the ancient tradition. Several gurukulam are active in India. Researchers are studying the effectiveness of thus ancient system. [Joshi and Gupta] There are also more standard Hindu schools, but they are much smaller in number than the Madrasas.
Joshi, Ankur and Rajen K. Gupta. "Elementary education in Bharat (that is India): insights from a postcolonial ethnographic study of a Gurukul," International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management (July 2017) Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 100-20.
Kashalkar, Snyukta. "Comparative study of ancient gurukula system and the new trend of guru-shishya parampara," American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Vol. 2, No. 1. (March-May 2013), pp. 81-84.
Ujjwal, Madalsa. Swami Dayanand Saraswati Life and Ideas (Book Treasure Publications: Jodhpur, 2008).
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