The Institute finds its origin in the Marris College of Music, established in 1926 by renowned classical singer and
musicologist,
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and
Rai Umanath Bali with the help of
Dr. Raja Rai Rajeshwar Bali (OBE, Ex MLC), taluqdar ruler of Rampur-Dariyabad state (U.P.) and then Minister of Education, Medical Relief & Public Health and Local Self-Government (UP Assembly) of
United Provinces, the institution was formally inaugurated by then
Governor of
United Provinces,
Sir William Sinclair Marris, and was also named after him. Later, on 26 March 1966, the
Government of Uttar Pradesh took over the college and renamed it after its founder as Bhatkhande Music College of Hindustani Music, later and now Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University, after
Government of India through a notification on 24 October 2000, declared the institute a deemed university. Primarily teaching vocal, dance, musicology and applied music in
Hindustani classical music, the institute also started teaching
western classical music in 2009, a move that didn't go well with some
chauvinists (not musicians or affiliated to the Institute), who feared that addition of Western classical music could later lead to replacement of
Bharatnatyam courses by 'belly dancing.' In 2022 it was upgraded into a teaching and affiliating state University, and name was changed into Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya. ==Departments==