<P> Until Besant's presidency, the society had as one of its foci Theravada Buddhism and the island of Sri Lanka, where Henry Olcott did the majority of his useful work . Under Besant's leadership there was more stress on the teachings of "The Aryavarta", as she called central India, as well as on esoteric Christianity . </P> <P> Besant set up a new school for boys, the Central Hindu College (CHC) at Banaras which was formed on underlying theosophical principles, and which counted many prominent theosophists in its staff and faculty . Its aim was to build a new leadership for India . The students spent 90 minutes a day in prayer and studied religious texts, but they also studied modern science . It took 3 years to raise the money for the CHC, most of which came from Indian princes . In April 1911, Besant met Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and they decided to unite their forces and work for a common Hindu University at Banaras . Besant and fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College also agreed to Government of India's precondition that the college should become a part of the new University . The Banaras Hindu University started functioning from 1 October 1917 with the Central Hindu College as its first constituent college . </P> <P> Blavatsky had stated in 1889 that the main purpose of establishing the society was to prepare humanity for the future reception of a "torch - bearer of Truth", an emissary of a hidden Spiritual Hierarchy that, according to theosophists, guides the evolution of mankind . This was repeated by Besant as early as 1896; Besant came to believe in the imminent appearance of the "emissary", who was identified by theosophists as the so - called World Teacher . </P> <P> In 1909, soon after Besant's assumption of the presidency, Leadbeater "discovered" fourteen - year - old Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895--1986), a South Indian boy who had been living, with his father and brother, on the grounds of the headquarters of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, and declared him the probable "vehicle" for the expected "World Teacher". The "discovery" and its objective received widespread publicity and attracted worldwide following, mainly among theosophists . It also started years of upheaval, and contributed to splits in the Theosophical Society and doctrinal schisms in theosophy . Following the discovery, Jiddu Krishnamurti and his younger brother Nityananda ("Nitya") were placed under the care of theosophists and Krishnamurti was extensively groomed for his future mission as the new vehicle for the "World Teacher". Besant soon became the boys' legal guardian with the consent of their father, who was very poor and could not take care of them . However, his father later changed his mind and began a legal battle to regain the guardianship, against the will of the boys . Early in their relationship, Krishnamurti and Besant had developed a very close bond and he considered her a surrogate mother--a role she happily accepted . (His biological mother had died when he was ten years old). </P>

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