A prominent US university has approved a new course under which students would examine the rise of Hinduism from colonial period to the present day.

The new course called "Modern Hinduism" was approved by the faculty of the DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana - a private, national liberal arts college. Founded in 1837, the university has Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University - named after Francis Asbury, the first American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.