National Mission for Manuscripts

Report of the Second Year7 February 2004 – 7 February 2005

The National Mission for Manuscripts completes its second year on

7 February 2005. The challenge taken up by the Mission is to

safeguard and disseminate India's rich cultural heritage contained

in manuscripts. Given the complexity of attempting to protect India’s five

million manuscripts spread over several languages across the country and

abroad, the task seemed formidable in 2002 as we looked towards the

future. Now with two years behind us, we see the Mission’s agenda taking

a concrete shape, and feel reasonably confident that we should be able to

at least partially realize the objectives for which it was set up.

The Mission being a time-bound activity of sixty months or five years,

the first year was spent largely in institution-building, fostering

collaboration and developing protocols for documentation. The second

year broadened our base with more collaborations and networking for

achieving common goals, and intensified the programme by getting new

initiatives off the ground. With the affiliation of prominent institutions

across the country as Manuscript Resource Centres and Manuscript

Conservation Centres, with the information gathered on manuscripts in an

integrated database, with the establishment of training on conservation

and manuscriptology, and the safeguarding of manuscriptural knowledge

through a pilot digitization project, the Mission has placed the protection

and dissemination of manuscripts on a firm footing.

More importantly, we are happy to see that new people are joining the

course of the Mission to share responsibility and taking up tasks of their

interest. The National Survey of manuscripts in three States received an

unprecedented response with many hitherto unknown manuscripts

unearthed and many people taking up the cause with the Mission. We are

aware that a Mission of this nature is tested by the academic rigour as

much as by the societal passion that makes it sustainable. In the past year,

the different areas of manuscriptology, Information Technology,

conservation technology—both modern and traditional—and a variety of

disciplines ranging from history, paleography and linguistics have come

together in the common cause of sustaining India’s manuscripts. The

academics, scholars, IT professionals, conservators, participants of our

training workshops on preventive conservation, curative conservation,

manuscriptology and all the other people who have partnered in the

activities of the Mission are part of our resource base which broadens

every day.

The following Report gives you a record of our activities in the last

twenty–four months. As promised, we will make it a practice to report our

activities every year to the people.

N

Manuscript Resourse Centre

Manuscript Conservation Centre

BhubaneswarPune

Ahmedabad

Jodhpur

Ujjain

Nagpur

Kurukshetra

Lucknow

Vrindavan

Patna

Darbhanga

Sambalpur

Chennai

KanchipuramHyderabad

HampiThanjavur

Tirupati

Pondicherry

Bangalore

Mysore

Tirur

Thiruvananthapuram

Imphal

Guwahati

Delhi

Hoshiarpur

Dharamsala

Srinagar

Leh

National Mission for Manuscripts

Rampur

Kolkata

• Survey, document and catalogue Indian

manuscripts, wherever they may be, and

compile a national database

• Facilitate conservation and preservation of

manuscripts through training, awareness–

building and financial support

• Provide ready access to these manuscripts

through digitization and publication

• Promote scholarship and research in the

study of Indian languages and manu-

scriptology

• Set up a National Manuscripts Library at the

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,

New Delhi

4

Objectives of theMission

✔ Identifying and creating a Network of Partner

Institutions involved in Manuscript

Preservation

✔ Setting up 27 Manuscript Resource Centres

across the Country

✔ Setting up 20 Manuscript Conservation

Centres across the Country

✔ Broad-basing Information on Manuscripts

through a National Survey as Pilot Project

✔ Developing a National Electronic Catalogue

for Manuscripts

✔ Setting Standards for Preventive

Conservation of Manuscripts

✔ Capacity Building on Conservation through

Training Workshops

✔ Evolving Standards and Benchmarks on

Digitization of Manuscripts

✔ Pilot Project for the Digitization of

Manuscripts

✔ Building up Manuscriptology Skills through

Short-term Courses

✔ Developing a Portal of the Manuscripts

Mission to share information

✔ Video Documentation of Libraries and

Institutions

✔ Supporting the New Catalogus Catalogorum

✔ Outreach Programmes across the Country in

February 2005

5

PerformanceSummary

Aims and Objectives • To find as many manuscripts as possible

whether they may be in institutions, libraries,

museums or private collections

• To document these manuscripts in a standard

data sheet which will eventually be

computerized and fed into the national

database of manuscripts

• To collect as much information on

manuscript repositories however small or big

on a standard questionnaire form to enlarge

the database of repositories and expand the

Mission’s list of partner institutions

• To spread awareness about this immensely

rich cultural inheritance

• To save and preserve as many manuscripts as

possible

• To involve local people and students of

literature, linguistics, history or any other

field in finding and documenting their local

manuscript wealth

• To create a manuscript map of India

Methodology• In three States—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and

Orissa

• Between 22 November and 10 December

2004

• For 53 districts

• Involving 2700 people

6

National Survey of Manuscripts (as Pilot Programme)

To find five million manuscripts in five years

and document and preserve them is no small

task. The greatest difficulty in finding

manuscripts is that they are quite simply

everywhere—in a local temple or mosque, in a

big library or state archive, in the private

collection of a Nawab or in the small home of a

villager.

In order to step up the efforts at locating,

documenting and preserving India’s

manuscripts, the Mission launched a massive

pilot survey in three States—Orissa, Bihar and

Uttar Pradesh. As with any pilot project, the

Mission experimented with formats and

programmes and finally evolved a model for

future surveys of this scale with the

cooperation and inputs of our partners in the

three States.

In Orissa, the Survey was conducted in all

thirty districts with our MRC, Orissa State

Museum in Bhubaneswar, as the State

Coordinator. In Bihar, the Survey was conducted

in ten districts with the Sri Dev Kumar Jain

Oriental Research Institute coordinating the

efforts in the State. In Uttar Pradesh, the U.P.

State Archives coordinated the Survey in

thirteen districts.

The Survey in the three States was carried

out over five days in each of the fifty-three

districts involved. The State Coordinators

appointed a District Coordinator for each

district and they in turn appointed a maximum

of forty–eight surveyors to comb their districts

for manuscripts over the designated five days.

In Orissa, the Survey took place between 22

and 26 November 2004. In Bihar, the Survey

was conducted between 24 and 28 November

2004. The Survey in U.P. took place between 29

November and 3 December in twelve districts

and between 6 and 10 December in one

district. In sum, the Survey in these three

States involved approximately 2700 people

working on the ground in a census-like

operation to unearth their manuscript heritage!

To better facilitate the Survey, based on

interaction with our partners in the States, the

Mission evolved a Code of Conduct for the

surveyors, a tentative Action Plan for each

district and a document on duties of the State

Coordinator, District Coordinator and Surveyor.

By networking with the State authorities,

particularly in the Departments of Culture,

valuable advice and support was gained for the

Survey at the State level and at the district

level. With the help of the Departments of

Culture, seminars were organized in each of the

three States to raise awareness in the state and

generate interest and cooperation among the

public for the Survey. In Bihar, the Honourable

Governor inaugurated the Seminar. In Orissa,

the Honourable Minister for Culture and the

Chief Secretary kicked off the outreach seminar

7

National Survey ofManuscripts - A New Experience forthe Mission

9

and in U.P., the Director General of the National

Archives of India and the Secretary, Department

of Culture lent their support at the seminar in

Lucknow.

Publicity and public outreach programmes

were conducted prior to the Survey with more

than one hundred articles appearing in various

regional and national dailies in the three States

and in Delhi. Local meetings, district-level

seminars and even street plays were organized

to spread awareness about the coming Survey.

Training sessions for the District Coordinators

on how to fill the two standard forms were

conducted by the Mission staff and they in turn

conducted training programmes for the

surveyors in their charge.

On the days of the Survey, several

challenges emerged at the ground-level. In

some districts, very few manuscripts were found

and in others, surveyors were overwhelmed by

the numbers of manuscripts they were

unearthing. In Orissa, over 2.9 lakh manuscripts

were found and 62,300 were documented. In

Bihar, in the ten districts surveyed, over 32,000

manuscripts were documented but about 1.5

lakh manuscripts were actually found. In U.P.,

more than two lakh manuscripts were found

with 1.89 lakh manuscripts being unearthed in

Varanasi alone. About 15,000 manuscripts were

documented.

In addition, our list of partner institutions

has more than doubled. In Bihar alone, 2480

repositories were found. In Orissa, just under

18,000 repositories were found! In U.P. as well,

the response was good with about 13,000

repositories found. The Mission’s partners have

increased manifold through this Pilot Survey!

Lessons LearntWhile the results of the Survey have been

gratifying to the Mission, there were many

lessons learnt along the way regarding formats

for reporting activities, selection of personnel

and how to generate publicity. As with any

pilot, the Survey programme has yielded a

variety of results and thrown up new challenges

for the Mission in the next round.

8

Experiences from the Field: The Survey in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh

The District Coordinator in Unnao, Dr. Mridula Pandit organized the Survey

between 29 November and 3 December with forty–eight surveyors, many

volunteers and three jeeps! Through a series of public outreach programmes

including a district event with the District Magistrate as the guest of honour as

well as a street play, word spread in the district about the impending Survey. Two

members of the Mission went to Unnao to train the surveyors and interact with

people from the district.

Dr. Pandit had the surveyors start everyday from the designated

headquarters for the Survey, the District Library, and report to her at least twice

a day. Surveyors and volunteers were given NMM Survey caps for easy

identification! The District Magistrate also chipped in with a lot of support and

provided some vehicles to facilitate the movement of surveyors from one block

to the next. Dr. Pandit recounts, “I also went along with the surveyors around

the district. On one occasion we came across an old mud house about to be

demolished. We saw that about thirty manuscripts had just carelessly been

thrown into a garbage bin nearby. We promptly retrieved those and the owners

of the condemned house were happy to give them to us. We have already

carried out some basic preventive conservation work on them.” In the end

about 25,000 manuscripts were found and about 3000 datasheets were filled.

To thank older members of the community who had taken part in the Survey,

she gave them certificates and shawls.

Some priceless manuscripts were found such as the one quintal

Mahabharata and ten meter long Koran. People from the community are still

coming to Dr. Pandit with their manuscripts and with information. All in all, it

proved a remarkable experience for the community and for the Mission!

The Cultural Informatics Laboratory, IGNCA,

has collaborated with the Mission to share the

data of its 1.10 lakh manuscripts with the

Mission and facilitated the data and catalogue

through intranet facilities in the Mission Office.

3. Manuscript Resource Personnel

The activities of each Centre are administered

by a Project Coordinator from the respective

institution who heads the functioning of MRC

work tasked by the Mission. To source the data

in the MRC through field surveys and document

the manuscripts, two types of personnel are

working with the MRC-s. More than one

hundred and sixty scholars are engaged in the

field for survey and documentation of

manuscripts and more than a hundred official

staff is engaged all over the country in the

different institutions to support the scholars

and enter data in the data base.

MRC-s also appoint resource persons to

decipher and edit manuscripts through

organizing workshops on manuscriptology and

paleography.

4. Preparing of National Directory of

Repositories

The Mission has compiled more than 2000

institutional and more than 3500 private

collections of manuscript repositories in the

country. Information on many rare and valuable

manuscripts which have been documented

through MRC-s and through integrating IGNCA

collections is available in the intranet. About

108 out of 550 districts in the country have

been partly or fully covered by the Mission

through surveys.

5. Trainings and Workshops

i. Training for manus e-granthavali: The

National Informatics Centre organized a three-

day training programme in the Mission Office to

train the representatives of the MRC-s on the

software. Two representatives from each MRC

and one NIC staff from the local area were

given training by NIC.

ii. Workshops on Manuscriptology and

Paleography: The Mission organized a series

of workshops on paleography and

manuscriptology for a period of two to three

weeks in collaboration with MRC-s or academic

institutes with expertise on manuscriptology.

These workshops trained the younger

generation of scholars in the area of

manuscript studies, reading and deciphering

ancient scripts like Brahmi, Kharoshti, Sarada,

Modi and Grantha, learning modern scripts used

in manuscripts, preparing critical editions of

texts, cataloguing of manuscripts, inscriptional

studies and use of Information Technology in

this field, preservation of manuscripts etc.

11

Aims and Objectives• To survey and document all the manuscripts

in the country through Manuscript Resource

Centres (MRC-s)

• To record and catalogue all Indian

manuscripts found in repositories abroad

• To make the activities of the Mission

known for wide access for researchers and

the public

Activities during the Year

1. New Manuscript Resource Centres

To create new network of survey,

documentation, cataloguing and awareness

among the people and to help the stakeholders

of manuscripts, the Mission has set up

twenty–seven Manuscript Resource Centres

(MRC-s) across the country. The Manuscript

Resource Centres are mostly established in

universities, renowned research institutions and

established non-governmental organizations

engaged in work relating to manuscripts.

The new MRC-s that have started

functioning in the current year are:

1. Kannada University, Hampi

2. Thunchan Memorial Trust, Tirur

3. Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University,

Ramtek

4. University of Madras, Chennai

5. Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Sanskrit

University, Kancheepuram

6. Mahabharata Samsodhana Pratisthan,

Bangalore

2. Manuscript Registration Centre

Each of the twenty–seven Manuscript

Resource Centres have set up a manuscript

registration centre with two computers and a

printer with internet facilities prescribed by the

Mission. They have installed the namami e-

granthavali software (developed by National

Informatics Centre, New Delhi for the

Mission) and started documenting manuscripts

data into the prescribed software for the

National Register of Manuscripts, collected

from institutional and personal repositories

through MRC-s. More than two lakh

manuscripts have already been documented in

the database.

10

Survey,Documentationand OutreachProgrammes

13

National Catalogueof Manuscripts

6. Publicity Campaigns

In various parts of India, the Manuscript

Resource Centres also organized about two

hundred and twenty campaigns for promotion

and publicity in public places and educational

institutions, both in urban and rural areas of

country. Many programmes were organized

through television, radio and many

advertisements were given in national and local

newspapers for spreading awareness among the

custodians of manuscripts, scholars and people

applying the code and conduct.

7. Summary of Work by MRC-s

i. The MRC-s have set up Manuscript

Registration Centres in the concerned states

ii. The MRC-s have core teams of staff trained

in various levels of expertise like

cataloguing, editing, deciphering scripts, etc.

iii. The MRC-s have engaged many trained and

educated researchers and students in the

field of manuscripts like survey and

documentation.

iv. MRC-s have linked up with the private and

institutional custodians for the well

preservation of manuscripts.

v. MRC-s have searched out the hidden and

traditional scholars in the field of

manuscripts to work and collaborate with

the Mission as well as manuscripts.

12

Objectives for 2005 – 2006• More affiliations with institutions, wherever necessary, through establishment

of Manuscript Resource Centres• Broad-basing survey by more focused activities• Completion of work started by National Survey by expanding Survey activities

and getting more • Emphasizing dissemination and publicity through more inputs in print and

electric media• Exhibitions, Heritag Education Programmes in schools and colleges through

sensitive use of media such as theatre, story-telling, guided tours incollaboration with MRC-s Lecture-series on different subjects relating tomanuscripts

• Starting of a Newsletter for wider outreach

Objectives and Methodology• Compile database providing information on

India’s manuscripts

• Evolving three standard proforma-s

• Creation of software—manus e-granthavali

• Integrating data collected by MRC-s and

other institutions at the Mission’s Computer

Laboratory

National Database of ManuscriptsThe task of cataloguing and documenting the

India’s manuscripts preserved in India and

abroad demands a solid methodology for which

the Mission has evolved three standard formats:

1. Questionnaires (1) and (2)

2. CAT-CAT

3. Manus

Questionnaire (1) is about preparing a

National Directory of manuscript repositories,

and (2) deals with its search record. CAT-CAT is

a Catalogue of Catalogues (compilation of

published catalogues by different institutions).

Manus deals with the data sheet entries of

manuscripts, with detailed information on each

manuscript such as title, author, commentary,

language, script, name of the repository, name

of the scribe (if available), date of the

manuscript, number of folios and pages and

other such relevant details. Thus three standard

directories are generated.

The layout of the directory through the

software called manus e-granthavali is a

development of the model which was followed

by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the

Arts for its manuscript documentation. The

national database which includes the

information collected by different MRC-s and

other institutions is now at the Mission’s

computer laboratory and in the process of

being made available on the web.

1514

Mission gives a new lease of life to New Catalogus Catalogorum:

“…It is hardly necessary for me to say that the work is a magnum opus and the University will indeedbe proud of this publication when it is issued finally” (Prof. A.L. Mudaliar, former Vice Chancellor, University of Madras, in his Foreword to therevised publication of NCC Vol.I)

Considering the abundance of manuscripts scattered in different parts of thecountry in libraries and other institutions in India, the need to compile andprotect this immense wealth was felt by scholars and manuscript aficionadosacross the country from the nineteenth century. There have been several earlierefforts to document information through scholars, kings, public and privatelibraries who made catalogues of their collection but a comprehensivecatalogue remained to be done.

The pioneering project called Catalogus Catalogorum (“Catalogue ofCatalogues”) was started in 1891 by the German scholar Theodore Aufrecht asan attempt to create a master compilation of manuscript catalogues. Analphabetical register of Sanskrit manuscripts, it was compiled from referenceworks and other catalogues and was printed in three volumes in 1891, 1896 and1903.

The New Catalogus Catalogorum, a multi-volume anthology of manuscriptcatalogues, was started in 1935 by the Madras University as an extension of theearlier project in the wake of the unearthing of more data on manuscripts. Thecompilation included more languages such as Pali, Prakrit to widen the scope ofthe work, covering Buddhism and Jainism. Stalwarts such as Dr. A.C. Woolner,Mahamahopadhyaya Kuppuswami Sastri, Dr. Kunhan Raja, Dr. LakshmanaswamiMudaliar and Dr. V. Raghavan were associated with the project.

The compilation of the New Catalogus Catalogorum (NCC) was made bycollecting valuable information on manuscripts from about four hundredalready existing lists, as well as research journals, printed works and periodicalsfrom India and abroad. Each entry includes the name of the text, its author,commentaries and sub-commentaries arranged in the chronological order. Theentries also provide cross-references to similar works and other bibliographicaldetails. The first volume of NCC was published in 1949. During the time, theproject received financial assistance from the British Council, the RockefellerFoundation and the Union Grants Commission. Fourteen volumes covering theletters from ‘a’ to ‘bh’ were published by the NCC so far. Then the project wassuspended, with another ten volumes remaining to be compiled for theremaining letters.

The revival of the project in the Madras University with the completion of theremaining volumes of the New Catalogus Catalogorum was initiated by the NationalMission for Manuscripts. The project has collected many more catalogues andupdated information. The existing volumes of the NCC Project are also to berevised. The proposed ten volumes to cover the rest of the alphabets will becompleted by the Department of Sanskrit, Madras University. The fifteenth andsixteenth volumes from “Brahmasutra” to “Bhagavata” are now complete andthe seventeenth volume is nearing completion. The NCC Project would be madeavailable in print format as well as electronic CD-ROM format from fifteenthvolume onwards during the Tenth Plan.

Manuscript Data Collected so farQuestionare (1) and (2)No. of manuscript repositories recorded so far –

• Institutional Collections: more than 2000

• Private Collections: around 3500*

Manus DatasheetNo. of data incorporated by the Mission

through already available data : 48,000

No. of data through MRS-s: 1,35,677

No. of data from IGNCA collection: 1,70,455

Total no. of data available: 2,91,132

CAT-CATNo. of manuscript catalogues compiled so far - around 2300 volumes**

* The National Survey has thrown up an astounding data of manuscript

repositories. For example, a five-day survey covering 30 districts in Orissa

itself has resulted in identifying 17,857 manuscript repositories in the area!

** 1700 volumes have been supplied by the existing collection of IGNCA

Aims and Objectives• To protect manuscripts through preventive

conservation

• To protect endangered manuscripts through

curative conservation

• Capacity-building and creation of trained

manpower for conservation

• Spreading awareness about the need to

conserve and ways of upkeep of manuscripts

for posterity

Methodology• Creation of standards and benchmarks

• Compilation of indigenous techniques of

conservation

• Conducting conservation camps and

workshops

Activities during the Year

1. New Manuscript Conservation

Centres

In order to create a network of conservation

units in the country, the Mission this year

added six more institutions to its list of

Manuscript Conservation Centres. The total

number of such centres now stands at twenty.

The service that these MCC-s are rendering

include creating a conservation nucleus in them

respective states, imparting training in

Preventive Conservation techniques through

workshops for other institutions and collections

in the respective regions, executing preventive

conservation steps in the various collections,

treating damaged manuscripts and raising

awareness on the need to preserve

manuscripts.

The new MCC-s that started functioning in

the current year are:

1. Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Ujjain

2. Mural Painting Conservation Research and

Training Centre, Sakthan Thampuran Palace,

Thrissur

3. Tamil Nadu Government Museum,

Egmore, Chennai

4. Karnataka State Archive, Bangalore

5. Samabalpur University, Burla, Orissa

6. Mahavir Digambar Jain Pandulipi Sanrakshan

Kendra, Jain Vidya Sansthan, Jaipur

2. Manuscript Conservation

Laboratories

Out of the twenty MCC-s most of them have

either set up a new manuscript conservation

laboratory with basic facilities or upgraded their

own conservation unit to be able to fulfill the

Mission’s objectives more efficiently.

3. Conservation Personnel

The activities of each Centre are administered

by a Project Coordinator who apart from his or

her institution’s official duties also directs the

16 Conservation

functioning of the MCC. To work on the

manuscripts, each MCC has two categories of

staff—one that has been trained in Preventive

Conservation techniques and the other with

expertise to undertake curative conservation

treatment of damaged manuscripts.

4. Collections conserved

During this year till 15 December 2004,

eighty–eight institutions with manuscript

collections were attended to. Though the thrust

was on preventive conservation at this stage,

damaged manuscripts were also treated in

twenty–one institutions. A total number of

3,82,340 manuscript folios were conserved

during this period.

5. Teachers’ Training Workshops

The Manuscript Conservation Centres are

expected to implement preventive conservation

steps for enhancing the longevity of manuscript

collections and impart training to custodians of

collections to practice preventive conservation.

Taking into consideration the extent and scope

of conservation activities to be taken up for the

protection of manuscripts, the Mission

launched two training programmes for giving

guidance to conservators on how to impart

training to institutions and owners of

manuscript collections. The training sought to

equip conservation professionals with training

and dissemination methodologies on

conservation and preservation of manuscripts.

Two Workshops to ‘train the trainers’ were

organized at the National Museum, New Delhi

(23 – 28 August 2004), and at the Government

Museum, Chennai (6 - 11 September 2004).

In the National Museum, thirty conservation

professionals representing different institutions

of North India participated in the Course which

also included ten MCC-s. The training, which

included lectures, video clippings and practical

training session and video clippings focused on

how to impart knowledge of preventive

conservation effectively.

The Workshop organized by the Government

Museum, Chennai, had eminent faculty drawn

from all over India. There were twenty

participants, from different libraries, museums

and other institutes in South Indian States such

as Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu.

The subjects covered were wide-ranging, which

included trainers’ responsibilities, elements of

formal teaching, factors of deterioration of

manuscripts such as pollution, humidity, micro-

organisms, storage and retrieval, disaster

management.

6. Preventive Conservation Workshops

As a natural consequence of the Teachers’

Training Workshops, the Mission conducted a

series of Preventive Conservation Workshops in

17

outreach programmes in which private and

pubic custodians of manuscripts, both in urban

as well as rural areas were made aware of the

reasons their manuscripts should be conserved

by themselves as far as possible and simple

steps on how to go about it.

8. Summary of performance of the

MCC-s

• The MCC-s have set up basic conservation

laboratories

• The MCC-s have core teams of staff trained

in varied levels of expertise.

• The MCC-s have initiated preventive as well

as curative conservation of manuscripts in

different parts of the country.

• MCC-s have begun to establish working

relationships with the various manuscript

collectors and institutions.

• Capacities of the staff of the MCC-s have also

been built to impart training in preventive

conservation and to organize awareness

campaigns both independently and in

coordination with the Manuscript Resource

Centres too.

19

all the Manuscript Conservation Centres during

the current year. It was planned that each MCC

would hold one training workshop during the

current year, to train representatives from

institutions, and private collections in their

State/local area.

These Workshops sought to give training to

at least thirty representatives from institutions

in the local area with manuscript holdings,

libraries temples, mutts or private collections,

to take care of the manuscripts in their

possession through preventive conservation

methods. Ten preventive conservation

workshops have been organized in different

parts of the country during this period. Through

these workshops, around two hundred

personnel from various libraries, archives,

museums, madrasa-s and private repositories

and from different States were trained in how

to ensure the longevity of their manuscripts

collections using simple techniques and basic

infrastructure.

7. Outreach Programmes

In various parts of India, the MCC-s also

organized three hundred and twenty–six

18

Preventive Conservation Workshops organized by the Mission

23 Aug – 3 Sept Indian Council of Conservation Institute, Lucknow

14 Sept – 23 Sept Rampur Raza Library, Rampur

20 Sept – 30 Sept Orissa Art Conservation Centre, Bhubaneswar

6 Oct– 13 Oct Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna

25 Oct – 30 Oct INTACH, Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore

1 Nov – 7 Nov Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

13 Dec – 18 Dec Archival Cell, Gauhati University, Guwahati

January 05 Tamil Nadu Government Museum, Chennai

21 Feb – 27 Feb Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur

February 05 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune

Objectives for 2005 – 2006• Impart advanced training to the staff of the various MCC-s in preventive

conservation• Impart intensive training to the MCC staff to execute curative conservation

treatment to damaged manuscripts. Those staff already trained in curativeconservation will be provided with specially designed refresher courses.

• Develop a basic library related to conservation of manuscripts in each MCC• Develop the existing laboratories into full fledged manuscript conservation

centres with necessary equipment, materials and chemicals• Achieve a prioritised minimum target, for each MCC, of preventive conservation

of 50 most important collections and curative conservation of 3000 folios.• Ensure that the collections of each institution that participated in the

Preventive conservation workshops has its collection in optimum condition.• Facilitate the above activities with an easy to understand manual on ‘Preventive

Conservation of Manuscripts’

Activities during the YearCreating Standards and Benchmarks on

Digitization of Manuscripts

Through a series of meetings with experts in

manuscriptology and with IT professionals,

NMM has worked out the standards and

benchmarks to be followed on digitization. With

the purpose of starting a project for digitization

of manuscripts, the Mission got in touch with

forty prominent institutions across the country

with considerable manuscript holdings to

identify ten per cent of their most important

and valuable collections (roughly about 1.5

lakhs). It is felt that manuscripts containing

material which is unique, rare and of cultural

and heritage value needs to be preserved at all

costs for the present and future generations. It

was also proposed that such manuscripts

with scientific, artistic, spiritual and

cultural value existing in the several public

and private collections across the country

would be digitized at the first instance.

For this purpose, the Mission has initiated a

pilot project for digitization of manuscripts in

select institutions with clearly defined

objectively verifiable benchmarks, standards,

scope of work and deliverables at the end of

the project.

• 6000 manuscripts of Iqbal Library in Jammu

and Kashmir: These manuscripts were

selected because of their historical and

cultural importance and

due to the fact that

Kashmir is a highly

sensitive area that

needs to protect

its heritage.

• 6500 Siddha

Manuscripts in

the state of

Tamil Nadu: These

manuscripts

are of prime

importance

due to their

medicinal value.

• 3500 Illustrated

Manuscripts of

Orissa State

Museum, Orissa:

Illustrations that is

certain hand-made

graphical images on these manuscripts form

the selection criteria for these manuscripts.

• 1000 manuscripts of Kutiyattam from Kerala:

These have high artistic, historical and

heritage value

• 4000 manuscripts from the Majuli Islands,

Assam: Apart from their knowledge content,

the immediate concern is the fact that Assam

is a flood-affected area because of which

these manuscripts need to be saved urgently.

21

A Pilot Project forDigitization ofManuscripts

Aims and Objectives• To safeguard the knowledge content of

manuscripts for the future

• To aid researchers in accessing manuscripts

without tampering with original copies

• Making manuscripts accessible to the public

Methodology• Creation of standards and procedures

• Pilot project in five states covering five

caches of manuscripts

• Creation of a digital library

As a means to document and protect

information contained in manuscript collections

of India and for enhancing their preservation

and accessibility, digitization of manuscripts is

an important activity. The National Mission for

Manuscripts aims to safeguard the knowledge

contained in manuscripts through developing a

consistent policy for digitization. It is estimated

that there are about five million manuscripts

scattered in both public and private institutions

and individual collections across the country.

There is such an abundance of wealth available

in different manuscripts that it becomes

difficult to preserve or even access all of them.

We are constrained to make a selection, for it is

technically impossible to document all of them

through digitization.

20

Digitization (As Pilot Programme)

S. Projects for Digitizing No. of No. Digitization till No. Digitization Agency Manuscripts of Pages 15 December 2004

1. Manuscripts of Iqbal Cultural Informatics 6,000 6,00,000 500 manuscripts, Library, Srinagar Lab, New Delhi around 1,50,000 pages

2. Kutiyattam Center for Development of 1,000 1,00,000 85 manuscripts, Manuscripts of Kerala Imaging Technology, Kerala around 15,000 pages

3. Illustrated Manuscripts National Informatics 3,500 3,50,000 Will start by of Orissa Center, New Delhi 15 January 2005

4. Vaishnava Manuscripts National Informatics 4,000 4,00,000 Will start by of Majuli Islands, Assam Center, New Delhi 15 January 2005

5. Siddha Manuscripts of Mahabharata 6,500 6,50,000 Will start by Tamil Nadu Samshodhana Pratishthanam, 15 January 2005

Bangalore, Karnataka

Aims and Objectives• To spread knowledge of different scripts and

languages in which manuscripts are found

• To impart skills in critically editing, translating

and interpreting manuscripts

Methodology• Three–week intensive workshops at different

locations around the country with emphasis

on ancient scripts specific to the area

• Collaboration with a large number of scholars

on Manuscriptology

• Creation of a new generation of scholars to

carry on the work

• Taking up research and publication of

manuscripts and catalogues

India’s manuscripts, spread all over the country

and abroad, are composed in different Indian

languages such as Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Urdu,

Persian and the different regional Indian

languages. They are written in different scripts

such as Brahmi, Sarada, Modi, Newari, Grantha

among others. Given India’s immense linguistic

diversity and sophistication, many documents

are inaccessible because there is little

knowledge of the languages and scripts used.

One of the major challenges is that there are a

dwindling number of scholars who can read,

decipher, read, translate, take up research and

interpret India’s manuscripts. It is crucial that

capacity-building in terms of training in

manuscriptology is taken up by the Mission on

a large scale.

Activities during the Year

Manuscriptology and Paleography

Workshops

To promote the knowledge of ancient scripts

and languages, and also to impart skills in

transcribing, interpreting and critically editing

manuscripts, the Mission has started a

programme of organizing Manuscriptology and

Paleography Workshops at regular intervals.

These are held in different parts of the country

in collaboration with an MRC or another

23Manuscriptology

The Mission has evolved certain guidelines and standards for digitization. A summary has been given below:

• The scanner: - Non-touch devices are to be used for scanning purposes as atouch device might harm the original state of document. For this reason a Face UpScanner rather than a Flat Bed Scanner is to be employed.

• Image quality: - Image Quality at capture can be defined as the cumulativeresult of the scanning resolution, the bit depth of the scanned image, theenhancement processes and the compression applied, the scanning device ortechnique used, and the skill of the scanning operator.

• Resolution: - It is determined by the number of pixels used to present theimage, expressed in dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch (ppi). Increasing thenumber of pixels used to capture the image will result in a higher resolution anda greater ability to delineate fine details, but just continuing to increaseresolution will not result in better quality. The scanning of images hence willtake place at 300 dpi.

• Bit depth: - It is a measurement of the number of bits used to define eachpixel. The greater the bit depth used, the greater the number of grey and colourtones that can be expressed. The Mission follows two kinds of scanning: -

• Bi-tonal scanning to represent black and white.• Colour scanning use multiple bits per pixel to represent colour, 24 bits per

pixel is called true colour level.• Image enhancement processes: - This would be used to modify or improve

image capture by changing size, colour, and brightness, or to compare andanalyze images for characteristics that human eye cannot perceive.

• Compression: - It is normally used to reduce file size for processing, storageand transmission of digital images. The Mission follows loss less compressiontechnique where the decompressed image will be identical to its earlier statebecause no information is thrown away when the file size is reduced. TheMission follows JPEG/JPEG 2000 international standards for compression.

Image Formats for scanned images• Master Image (TIFF format)• Clean Image (TIFF format)• Access Image (JPEG format)• Thumbnail Image (JPEG format)

Naming ConventionThe naming of images is an important issue that has been handled by the missionin a delicate manner. The images will be named according to Manus Id generated by the cataloguing software of the Mission called manus e-granthavali. Meta Data information for each manuscript scanned will be stored inthe database and is identified by its Manus Id. So the Manus Id and the AccessionNumber given by the institute where the digitization is taking place forms the basisof naming the digitized images of each manuscript page.

Data Management Post capture processing includes quality control against the conversion standardand re-scanning where necessary. Digital archiving comprises electronic recordsmanagement functions of providing security, authenticity and integrity for long-term preservation and access. The digitized images will be stored in standard fileformats i.e. TIFF and JPEG that can be migrated to a new platform as required,without loss of data. In order to store large amount of data (i.e. image files) theMission would install high capacity servers and retrieval software made so that themanuscripts could be viewed on the digital interface. The design of user interfacewill be according to needs and requirements of the end user.

The workshop covered the northern parts of

the country, including Jammu and Kashmir,

Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal,

Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. About

forty–five participants from MRC-s in the North,

as also from universities and research

institutions were not only trained to decipher

Sarada, Grantha and Brahmi scripts, but also all

aspects of manuscript studies, from the history

of scripts to the editing of texts.

In the workshop, thirty experts from

different fields conducted the course through

two hundred lecture programmes and practical

sessions on manuscriptology, paleography,

conservation, preservation and use of

information technology among other aspects.

Future Course of ActionAs a follow–up of the Workshops, the Mission

seeks to conduct advance courses on

manuscriptology and paleography for select

participants and other interested scholars.

These would include refresher courses and

practical training sessions. In addition, these

people would be encouraged to submit

proposals for compiling translations, critical

editions of texts, apart from research in

specific areas.

25

reputed institution in the area. Designed as

intensive workshops of two to three weeks’

duration, they familiarize students with scripts

prevalent in the local area, as well as ancient

scripts such as Brahmi, Sarada and Grantha in

which a large number of manuscripts are

found everywhere. In addition, trainees are

given a good grounding in all aspects of

manuscriptology such as collation, editing,

preparation of indexes as well as aspects of

conservation and preservation through modern

technologies. These workshops are aimed at

creating a new generation of scholars to carry

on the work on manuscriptology and

paleography.

In the current year, the Mission has

organized three training workshops in

collaboration with institutions and Manuscript

Resource Centres in three regions:

Ujjain Workshop: The first Workshop on

Manuscriptology and Paleography was held in

the Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Vikram

University, Ujjain, from 15 August 2004 to 28

August 2004. The course covered critical

edition of manuscripts, conservation, teaching

of scripts, history of writing, cataloguing of

manuscripts, inscriptional studies,

conservation of manuscripts and the use of

information technology in manuscript

preservation and research.

Well-established scholars on

manuscriptology and paleography from

different parts of the country conducted the

workshop with lectures and demonstrations.

The scripts taught in the workshop were Sarada,

Grantha, Old Nagari and Brahmi.

About forty–seven students participated

from Madhya Pradesh (forty students),

Chattisgarh (four) Haryana (one), Delhi (one)

and Uttar Pradesh (one), and at the end of the

session, came out with varying degrees of

competence in reading the scripts and editing

manuscripts.

Ahmedabad Workshop: The second

workshop was held for a duration of two weeks

in the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad,

from 9 to 21 August 2004.

About forty–five participants from Rajasthan,

Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Orissa and

fifteen resource persons from different parts of

the country participated in the workshop and

learnt to create critical editions, to decipher

Brahmi, Sarada and Old Nagari scripts.

Delhi Workshop: The third workshop of the

series was organized in Delhi in association

with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the

Arts, the National Nodal Agency of the Mission,

for a period of three weeks from 1 December to

21 December 2004.

24

launch a fellowship programme to

encourage research as well as a quality

publications programme that will

reproduce translations and edited versions

of rare texts in manuscripts as well as

publications on aspects of manuscripts

themselves.

viii. Acquisition of Catalogues and Building

Contacts with Manuscript Repositories

Abroad: The Mission has already begun

the lengthy process of contacting

manuscript repositories abroad such as

the Royal Library in Denmark and the

Hermitage in Russia and hopes to build on

this contact in the coming year. The

Mission hopes to acquire catalogues of

Indian manuscript collections from abroad

in the next year.

ix. Launch of NMM Newsletter: Through a

newsletter, the Mission hopes to create

links between MRC-s and MCC-s, and also

our partner institutions. The newsletter will

carry news and views from different parts

of the country as well as serve as a way of

disseminating ideas related to our

manuscriptural heritage.

x. Establishment of National Manuscripts

Library: One of the main objectives of the

Mission is to establish a National

Manuscripts Library that will

contain digital resources,

books and donated

manuscripts with state-of-

the-art facilities for teachers,

students, researchers and

interested persons. With the

resources already collected, the

Mission will launch the Library

this year.

27

i. Education Programme and Youth Forum

on Manuscripts and Heritage (April

2005): The Mission is looking now to the

future and looking to the future means

looking to the next generation to carry

forward the movement to save India’s

diverse heritage. To generate interest and

skills in heritage management, the Mission

will organize a Youth Forum that will involve

students and teachers from around the

country on a common platform to evolve

ways to make heritage conservation a part

of our lives. The Mission also plans to use

theatre, involve children in designing

exhibitions, college debates and online

resources to further heritage education

and ensure the future of India’s heritage.

ii. National Survey based on Pilot Survey:

From the lessons learnt from the pilot

survey held in November-December 2004,

the Mission will initiate four more state-

wise surveys in July-September 2005 to

uncover hidden manuscript treasures and

expand our list of partners.

iii. More Focused Outreach: Through more

media campaigns, mass contact

programmes, lectures, exhibitions, audio-

visual inputs and other events the Mission

plans to extend its outreach.

iv. National “Care and Conserve” camps

as Pilot Programme: To promote the

care and conservation of manuscripts, the

Mission will launch conservation camps

around the country in a pilot programme.

The Mission hopes to reach out to

members of the public who own

manuscripts to help them look after them

on their own and save endangered

manuscripts.

v. Mobile Conservation Units: The Mission

seeks to establish India’s first ever mobile

conservation unit to enable conservators

to conserve manuscripts not otherwise

easily accessible.

vi. Digitization based on Pilot Project:

Based on the pilot digitization project

begun in 2004, the Mission will expand the

digitization drive to other parts of the

country and other caches of valuable

manuscripts in order to set a firm

foundation for a digital library for

manuscripts and save threatened

manuscripts for posterity.

vii. Research and Publication

programmes: To promote the use of

manuscripts and the rich treasure of

knowledge found in them, the Mission will

26

ForthcomingProgrammes(For 2005-2006)

29

Aims and Objectives• To generate awareness about manuscripts as

heritage and as knowledge bases

• To raise awareness about the Mission’s

activities

EventsVijnananidhi: India’s National TreasuresThe Mission, with its mandate to preserve and

disseminate India's rich cultural heritage

contained in manuscripts, seeks to identify

manuscripts with unique heritage value and

declare them as Vijnananidhi: India’s National

Treasures. For selection as Vijnananidhi,

manuscripts would be chosen for their

outstanding value to the whole of humanity and

also for their contribution to Indian life,

significance to the development of Indian

thought, or the preservation of its culture.

Tatvabodha: Lecture seriesTatvabodha will feature renowned scholars in the

fields of history, medicine, philosophy and other

areas. They will speak on themes ranging from

Tamil manuscripts and the Bhakti movement,

Buddhist manuscripts and India’s medical

history. Speakers include Prof. Irfan Habib,

Dr. M. S. Valiathan, Prof. R. Champakalakshmi,

Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan and Dr. Lokesh Chandra.

Samrakshika: Seminar and Exhibitionon Oral Traditions and IndigenousMethods and Materials of Conservationof Manuscripts(In collaboration with Indira Gandhi National

Centre for the Arts)

Samrakshika comprises two programmes—a

seminar and exhibition on indigenous methods

of conservation. Experts from a variety of

conservation-related areas and academic

disciplines will discuss how manuscripts have

been conserved over hundreds of years before

the advent of modern methods of conservation.

They will also discuss oral traditions related to

traditional manuscript conservation. The

Exhibition will bring together practitioners of

indigenous methods of conservation who will

then demonstrate how they make and use their

materials.

Darshana: Two Cultural Performances(In collaboration with Sangeet Natak Akademi)

The Mission is organizing performances a

Kutiyattam troupe and an Ankia Nat troupe in an

attempt to link intangible heritage to our

manuscript heritage. Both performances will be

pieces from the great epics as interpreted in

Kerala and Assam. The Margi Troupe will put up

a Kutiyattam performance of Agnipraveshakam,

the seventh act of Saktibhadra’s

Ascharyachudamani. The Sattriya Akademi

Troupe will put up Sankaradeva’s Keligopal.

We hope to animate the tangible through the

intangible with performances from well-known

troupes!

Our network of MRC-s and MCC-s will

organise programmes to celebrate the

Mission’s second anniversary on 31 January

2005 to spread the message of the Mission and

reach out to the public through exhibitions,

seminars, plays and media campaigns.

28

Celebration ofSecond Anniversaryas Kriti Rakshana:Manuscripts Week

Kriti Rakshana

3. Joint Secretary, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, New Delhi

4. Director, Department of Culture, Ministry

of Culture, New Delhi

5. Mission Director, National Mission for

Manuscripts, New Delhi

Project Monitoring Committee(Under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary,

Ministry of Culture)

1. Joint Secretary, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, New Delhi

2. Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National

Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

3. Director, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, New Delhi

4. Prof. V. Kutumba Sastri, Vice Chancellor,

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi

5. Shri Chamu Krishna Sastri,

Samskrita Bharati, New Delhi

6. Mission Director, National Mission for

Manuscripts, New Delhi

Indira Gandhi National Centre forthe Arts, National Nodal Agency ofNational Mission for ManuscriptsEstablished in memory of Smt. Indira Gandhi,

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts is a

centre encompassing the study and experience

of all the arts -- each form with its own

integrity, yet within a dimension of mutual

interdependence, interrelated with nature,

social structure and cosmology. Through diverse

programmes of research, publication, training,

creative activities and performance, the IGNCA

seeks to place the arts within the context of

the natural and human environment. The

fundamental approach of the Centre is all its

work is both multidisciplinary and

interdisciplinary.

Some of the main aims of the Centre are to

serve as a major resource centre for the arts,

especially written, oral and visual source

materials; to undertake research and

publication programmes of reference works,

glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopaedia

concerning the arts and the humanities;

provide a forum for a creative and critical

dialogue through performances, exhibitions,

multi-media projections, conferences, seminars

and workshops between and amongst the

diverse arts, traditional and cotemporary; to

foster dialogue between arts and current ideas

in philosophy, science and technology, with a

view toward bridging the gap in intellectual

understanding between modern sciences and

arts and culture; to promote an network with

national and international institutions; and to

conduct related research in the arts, humanities

and culture.

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

has a long and sustained programme of

documenting India’s manuscripts from the late

eighties. Under the leadership of Dr. Kapila

Vatsyayan, the Academic Director of IGNCA, it

has collaborated with all the major manuscript

repositories in India and abroad for the

documentation and microfilming of

manuscripts.

33

National Empowered Committee(Under the chairmanship of the Minister,

Ministry of Culture) for providing policy

guidance to the Mission. The Committee

comprises following members:

1. Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Culture,

Government of India–Chairman

2. Secretary, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, Government of India

3. Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National

Centre for the Art, New Delhi

4. Joint Secretary, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, Government of India

5. Director General, National Archives of

India, New Delhi

6. Prof. V. Kutumba Sastri, Vice-Chancellor,

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi

7. Dr. O.P. Agrawal, Director General,

Indian Council of Conservation Institutes,

INTACH, Lucknow

8. Shri Chamu Krishna Sastri,

Samskrita Bharati, New Delhii

9. Prof. G.C. Pande,

10. Prof. V.C. Panchamukhi, Director General,

ICSSR, New Delhi

11. Dr. M.H. Makhdoomi, Director,

Archaeology and Museum,

Jammu and Kashmir

12. Prof. Siniruddha Dash, Director,

New Catalogus Catalogorum,

University of Madras, Chennai

13. Dr. P.V. Krishna Bhat, Coordinator,

IGNCA Bangalore Field Office, Bangalore

14. Mission Director, National Mission for

Manuscripts (Member Secretary)

Executive Committee (Under the chairmanship of the Secretary,

Ministry of Culture) for the preparation of

action plan and budget of the Mission. The

Executive Committee comprises the following

members:

1. Secretary, Ministry of Culture,

Government of India– Chairman

2. Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National

Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

3. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture,

Government of India

4. Dr. O.P. Agrawal, Director General,

Indian Council of Conservation Institutes,

INTACH, Lucknow

5. Dr. M. H. Makhdooomi,. Director (Retd.),

Archaeology & Museum,

Jammu & Kashmir

6. Prof. V. Kutumba Sastri, Vice Chancellor,

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi

7. Shri Chamu Krishna Sastri,

Samskrita Bharati, New Delhi

8. Mission Director, National Mission for

Manuscripts

Finance Committee To allocate appropriate funds for the different

programmes approved by the Executive and

Project Monitoring Committees (Under the

chairmanship of the Financial Advisor, Ministry

of Culture)

1. Financial Advisor, Department of Culture,

Ministry of Culture, New Delhi

2. Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National

Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

32

Committees of theNational Missionfor Manuscripts

OurPartners

libraries that exists in the world. Built up by the

successive dynasties of Nayaks and Marathas

of Thanjavur, this Library contains very rare and

valuable collection of manuscripts, books,

maps and painting on all aspects of arts,

culture and literature. The Library has the

richest collection of manuscripts—48,000 in

Sanskrit, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu including

twenty illustrated manuscripts, which reflect the

history and culture of South India. A total

number of 24,432 titles are catalogued and in

active use. The scripts used for Sanskrit

language are Grantha, Devanagari, Telugu and

Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya. Fourteen volumes

of Descriptive Catalogues have been published

by the Library so far.

The MRC at Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s

Saraswati Mahal Library has been

functioning since September 2003.

The MRC has so far documented 5000

manuscripts in Tamil Nadu. It has

covered three institutions and twenty private

collections covering two districts during survey

and has held one awareness campaign.

Address:

Mr. P. Perumal, Project Coordinator, Thanjavur

Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library

Thanjavur–613009, Tamil Nadu,

Tel: 04362-234107 (library), 230206,

Fax: 04362-233568, 230857

37

1. Bhandarkar Oriental ResearchInstitute, Pune

The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute was

founded in 1917 in commemoration of

Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, the

distinguished scholar and litterateur and one of

the pioneers of scientific Indology in India. The

Institute has nearly 20,000 manuscripts,

covering a wide variety of subjects like religion,

languages, Vedic literature, grammar, music,

drama, purana, stotras, tantra, medicine, and

philosophical systems and texts. The

manuscripts are written in a variety of scripts

and languages. It possesses some old and

unique manuscripts on paper, palm-leaf and

birch-bark.

The Archives contains copies of Farsi

translation of the Gita and Yogavasishtha, made

by Dara Shikoh 340 years ago, a copy of Vishnu

Purana translated into Persian by a Kashmiri

Pandit, a manuscript relating to horse-breeding

written by Qazi Hasan Iftakhan 390 years ago,

and an original manuscript bearing the seal of

the royal library of Emperor Jahangir.

Thirty–five volumes of Descriptive Catalogue

(covering over 12,000 manuscripts from the

Government Manuscripts Library) have been

published so far. Microfilming of about thirteen

lakh folios (including those of about four

thousand un-catalogued manuscripts) was

carried out at the Institute, under the auspices

of the Indira Gandhi

National Centre for

Arts, New Delhi,

and completed

recently.

The

Manuscript

Resource

Centre at

Bhandarkar

Oriental

Research

Institute has

been functioning

since September

2003. The MRC has

so far documented

14,916 manuscripts

and produced

electronic data

for 2000. The

survey conducted by more than thirty

people has covered twenty–three institutions

and thirty–two private collections in

Maharashtra, covering seventeen districts

during the survey. The information pertains

mostly to Sanskrit manuscripts, with some

Marathi manuscripts as well. It has also

conducted six awareness campaigns with more

than two hundred people participating and

eliciting positive response.

36

ManuscriptResource Centres 2004-05

Address:

Prof. Saroja Bhate, Hony. Secretary,

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,

Deccan Gymkhana, Pune–411037

Tel: 020-25656932 Fax: 020-25661362,

Email: boril@vsnl.net, Website: www.bori.ac.in

2. Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’sSaraswati Mahal Library, Thanjavur

The Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal

Library is perhaps one among the few medieval

4. French Institute of Pondicherry,Pondicherry

The manuscript collection of the French

Institute of Pondicherry was started in 1955

under the auspices of its Founder–Director,

the polymath Jean Filliozat, with a view to

collecting all material relating to Saiva Agamas,

the scriptures of the Saiva religious tradition

called the Saiva Siddhanta, which has

flourished in South India since the eighth

century A. D.

The collection of the French Institute now

consists of approximately 8600 palm-leaf

codices (including 360 bundles of texts

written on paper) and 1144 transcripts of

manuscripts on paper in Devanagari script

including five illustrated manuscripts. The

Institute has published four volumes of

descriptive catalogues. It is unique in that it is

the largest collection of Saiddhantika

manuscripts in the world.

The French Institute Manuscript Resource

Centre has been in operation since August

2003. The MRC has so far documented 2500

manuscripts. It has covered six institutions and

eleven private collections covering two districts

during survey. Some of the important

collections surveyed are the U.Ve. Swaminatha

Iyer Library and Central Research Institute of

Siddha Medicine from Chennai. The

manuscripts, covering a wide variety of topics

such as Vedic ritual, Saiva Agama, Sthalapurana

and scripts such as Grantha, and Tamil are in

need of urgent preservation.

Address:

Sri T. Ganeshan, Project Coordinator

French Institute of Pondichery

11, Saint Louis Street , PB-33

Pondicherry–605001

Tel: 0413-2334168 ext.-123

Fax: 0413-2339534

5. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental PublicLibrary, Patna

Established in 1891 as a Public Library by

Khuda Bakhsh Khan out of his personal

collection of a few manuscripts, the Khuda

Bakhsh Oriental Public Library acquired the

status of an “Institution of National

Importance” by an Act of Parliament in 1969. It

is functioning as an autonomous institution

under governance of a board constituted by

Government of India, since July 1970.

The Library is recognized the world over for

its rich collection of invaluable manuscripts,

rare printed books, many miniatures and

paintings of Hindu Gods and original paintings

of Mughal, Rajput, Turkish and Iranian schools

It has special manuscript collections like an

inch-wide Quran. It also contains the only

books rescued from the plunder of the

39

3. Central Institute of BuddhistStudies, Leh

Formerly known as the School of Buddhist

Philosophy, the Central Institute of Buddhist

Studies was established in the year 1959. The

Institute was set up for developing a

comprehensive knowledge of Buddhism, which

includes the study of ancient Shastras, Culture,

Philosophy and History, languages such as

Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Tibetan (Bhoti) and

Pali. The other objectives of the Institute are to

translate of Buddhist manuscripts into Sanskrit,

Hindi, English and other Indian languages, to

collect, preserve and publish rare manuscripts

and to facilitate research on Buddhism. The

Institute is dedicated to instilling the wisdom of

Buddhist thought, literature, and arts in young

students, with a view also to familiarizing them

with the knowledge of modern subjects. It has

worked as a nodal resource centre for

Buddhism in the local area for several years,

and has a large collection of manuscripts.

The MRC at the Central Institute of Buddhist

Studies, Leh, has been working with the

Mission since August 2003. It has primarily

focused on the survey and documentation of

Buddhist, Tibetan collections of manuscripts in

the area. The MRC has done active work in the

difficult terrains of Leh, full of Buddhist

monasteries, which are the storehouse of

manuscripts. The investigating team of the MRC

has documented 3492 data of Tibetan, Bhoti

and Buddhist manuscripts in fourteen

institutions and six private collections in Leh.

The MRC has conducted twenty awareness

programmes in various monasteries and four

thousand people were took part in the

programme.

Address:

Dr. Tashi Paljor, Principal

Central Institute of Buddhist Studies

Cholamsar, Leh (Laddak)–194001

Tel/Fax: 01982-264391

38

precious documentary heritage of the North

East, focusing on the areas in Manipur.

Consisting of four personnel, the MRC has

surveyed eighteen institutions in the current

year (five institutions and thirteen private

collections) covering fourteen districts,

documenting 5406 manuscripts on various

subjects such as astrology, history, literature,

medicine, and several other subjects. These are

found in scripts such as ancient Meitei, Bengali

and Devanagari. The MRC has produced

electronic data for 2646 manuscripts. It has

worked hard on disseminating information on

the Mission’s activities through conducting

thirteen public events, in which over four

hundred people actively participated.

Address:

Dr. K Sushila, Director

Manipur State Archives, Washinglom Lokoi,

Imphal–795001, Manipur,

Tel/Fax:0385-2222813

7. Oriental Research Institute,Mysore

The Oriental Research Institute was established

in 1891 by Chamaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of

Mysore, with the objectives of collecting,

preserving, deciphering and critically editing

palm-leaf and paper manuscripts. Housed in

the architecturally attractive Jubilee Hall built in

1887, it was a part of the Department of

Education until 1916, and then became part of

the newly established University of Mysore.

Oriental Research Institute has published

nearly two hundred titles, the most notable

among them being the publication of the first

ever complete text of Kautilya`s Arthashastra

(written in the fourth century B.C) in 1909,

which catapulted the Institute to international

academic renown. The manuscript was found in

the ORI`s collection at the beginning of the

twentieth century and was edited by Shama

Sastry, the great Sanskrit scholar. There are

important texts like Navaratnamani-mahatmya (a

work on gemology), Tantrasara-sangraha (a work

on sculptures and architecture), Vaidyashastra-

dipika (an ayurvedic text), Rasa-kaumudi (on

41

University of Cordoba in Spain. It is one of the

national libraries of India.

There are some rare manuscripts in the

collection at Khuda Bakhsh, including the

Jehangir-Nama, Shah Namah, Al-Quran, Tarikh-i-

Khandan-ITimutiya, itab-ul-HashaishhAl-Luma fi al-

Tasawwuf. There are many examples of Persian

calligraphy and rare coins. Many expensive and

rare manuscripts have come from places like

Alexandria, Cairo, Damascus, Beirut, Arabia,

etc. There are facilities for research work

concerning the Muslim period in Oriental

studies. The Institution has published

thirty–nine volumes of Descriptive Catalogues

covering three hundred illustrated manuscripts.

The Khuda Bakhsh Manuscript Resource

Centre concentrates mainly on documenting

Urdu, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts. The

MRC, started in September 2003 has collected

information on 12000 manuscripts and

produced electronic data for 1271. For the

survey, it has covered twenty–two institutions

and thirty–two private collections in six

districts. The six publicity campaigns organized

by the Centre have yielded rich results in terms

of creating awareness in the people in

preserving their manuscripts and in sharing the

information. The Survey has evoked very

positive response from the community, and

resulted in the documentation of hitherto

unknown manuscripts.

Address:

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Director

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

Ashok Rajpath, Patna–800 004, Bihar

Tel: 0612-2300209 (O), 0612-2301507 (R)

Fax: 0612-2300209

Email: kblibpat@sancharnet.in

6. Manipur State Archives, Imphal The Manipur State Archives was established in

March 1982, by the Government of Manipur.

With the establishment of the State Archives,

the Manipur State Secretariat record office has

transferred many bulks of its records to the

Archives. The repository has thousands of

records and manuscripts as well as a rich

collection of many valuable historical

manuscripts in Archaic Manipuri and few

manuscripts in the Bengali scripts.

The MRC at Manipur State Archives, Imphal,

has been functioning since August 2003. The

MRC has taken up the task of documenting the

40

Bengali, Devanagari, covering institutional and

private collections. It has produced electronic

record for 2000 manuscripts. Covering twenty

districts of Orissa, it has held forty–two

awareness campaigns, which include rallies,

marches and performances like street plays,

folk songs and dances to attract people into

the programme. The people’s involvement

and response have been very good, with the

number of participants as high as 25,000.

The Orissa State Government has been an

active supporter of the programme, and the

publicity through print and electronic media

has been immense.

Address:

Dr.C.B.Patel, Superintendent

Orissa State Museum

Museum Building

Bhubaneshwar, Orissa

Tel/Fax: 0674-2431597, 9437090569

Email: cbpatelosm@rediff.com

9. Rajasthan Oriental ResearchInstitute, Jodhpur

Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute is an

initiative of the Government of Rajasthan. The

Institute was established as Sanskrit Mandal in

1950 and extended as a full-fledged department

in 1954 with a view to explore, collect,

preserve, edit and publish ancient literature of

Rajasthan and adjacent areas available in

Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apbhramsa and Hindi-

Rajasthani. It has a large reference library

comprising of 26,713 rare titles and 6000

periodicals. With seven branch repositories at

Bikaner, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Kota, Chittorgarh,

Udaipur, Alwar having a collection of 1,19,830

manuscripts including 1011 illustrated

manuscripts on different subjects like the

Vedas, dharmashastra, itihasa, purana, tantra,

mantra, darshana, jyotisha and ayurveda, the

Institute has published one hundred and

thirty Descriptive Catalogues and published

critical editions of more than two hundred

important texts.

The rich manuscripts in the collection of

the Rajasthan Oriental Institute include

miniature versions with Pala, Western Indian,

Rajput, Kangra and Jammu and Kashmir

schools of painting on palm, birch-bark, paper,

wood and cloth. There is an excellent

calligraphy text called Dvipath, Tripath and

Panchpath. Some unique specimens are Arsha-

43

mercurial medicine) and Paryayapadamanjari

(ayurvedic materia medica) which are part of ORI’s

collection. The Institute has already published

seventeen volumes of Descriptive Catalogues of

different subjects including nine volumes of the

Sritattvasudhanidhi, the illustrated manuscripts.

The MRC at Oriental Research Institute,

University of Mysore, has been functioning

since October 2003. It has done a preliminary

survey of fifteen institutions covering three

districts and has held nine awareness cam

paigns, resulting in wide publicity and exposure

to the programme. The documentation,

pertaining mainly to the collections of the MRC

itself, has covered 12,500 manuscripts.

Address:

Dr. K.V. Ramesh, Director

Oriental Research Institute, University of Mysore

Kautilya Circle, Mysore–570005, Karnataka

Ph: 0821-2423136 / 2420331

Email: mrcmys@yahoo.com

8. Orissa State Museum,Bhubaneswar

When Bhubaneswar became the capital of

Orissa, the Museum was moved from Cuttack

to its present location. The collection of the

Museum centers on the arts of the region.

The precious palm-leaf manuscripts of the

Museum deserve special mention. It is

ascertained from records that 37,273 titles

have been collected out of which fifty–two

manuscripts have been published. It has

manuscripts made of palm-leaf, bamboo leaf,

hand-made paper, ivory, bhurja bark and kumbhi

bark. Rare garland-shaped, fan-shaped, fish-

shaped, sword-shaped, rat- and parrot-shaped

varieties of manuscripts and different types of

stylus are available here. Four hundred

illustrated manuscripts of coloured and

monochrome variety are also found.

Important manuscripts of Gitagovinda of Kali

Charan Pattnaik, Ushaharana, Ushavilasa etc

and different varieties of cover design of

palm-leaf manuscripts are also available in

the collection.

The MRC at Orissa State Museum,

Bhubaneswar has been functioning since

August 2003. Ever since its inception, the MRC

has been very active in survey and

documentation work. The MRC has so far

documented a massive number of 83,700

manuscripts in several scripts such as Oriya,

42

Tarikh-e-Baburi, a manuscript of immense

historical value. The book is a contemporary

Persian translation by the courtier Zain-e-

Khanafi. Tarikh-e-Mohammadi, another

important text, is being transcribed from the

original for publication. Among the several

invaluable treasures of the Rampur Raza

Library, a Koran written before 661 AD by Ali

bin Abu Talib, the fourth Caliph of Rampur,

deserves mention.

The MRC at Rampur Raza has been

functioning since August 2003. The MRC has

so far documented 20,000 manuscripts of

Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages and

produced electronic data for 8000. It has

covered forty institutions and sixty private

collections covering twenty–five districts

during survey and has held five awareness

campaigns.

Address:

Dr. W. H Siddiqui, Director

Rampur Raza Library

Hamid Manzil

Rampur–244901, Uttar Pradesh

Tel: 0595-2325045

Fax: 0595-2340548

Email: whsiddiqui@rediffmail.com,

director@razalibrary.com

Website: www.razalibrary.com

11. Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library,Gauhati University, Guwahati

The Gauhati University Library started its

functioning in 1948. In 1982 the Gauhati

University Library was renamed as K.K.

Handiqui Library after its first Vice Chancellor

Professor K.K. Handiqui. The Library was

established primarily to enhance and support

the different research programmes carried out

by the University.

The Library has acquired more than 4500

manuscripts in different subjects including five

illustrated manuscripts of the Ramayana,

Bhagwata and Lavakusha Yuddha among others.

The collection of manuscripts in the repository

is written mostly in agaru bark. They also have

immense historic and cultural value as

representing the region of their origin.

The MRC at Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library,

Gauhati University, has been functioning since

August 2003. The MRC has so far documented

15,000 manuscripts from the thirteen districts

of Assam. About 1000 manuscripts have been

electronically stored in the e-granthavali

software. This survey has resulted in the

assessment of the immense collections from

over two hundred collections across the

districts including some places in the Majuli

islands. The manuscripts are found to be

written mostly in Assamese and Devanagari. The

sanchipat, tulapat are unique to this area as a

45

Ramayana, Gita Govinda (Mewar school),

illuminated Kalpasutra of VS 1485, Buddhist

manuscript Arya Mahavidya, illustrated

Bhagwata among others. An authenticated

manuscript of Prithviraj Raso from Dharnoj

village of Gujrat and a number of manuscripts

written profusely in gold ink are also worth

mentioning.

Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute

started functioning as a Manuscript Resource

Centre in September 2003. With the active

participation of the affiliate branches spread

across Rajasthan, the MRC has been able to

document 61,732 manuscripts so far. The MRC

has enriched the Mission database by

producing electronic data for 39,277

manuscripts. The Institute explored thirteen

districts including Dholpur, Alwar, Jaipur, Kota

and Bikaner and managed to cover sixty–eight

institutions and eighteen private collections

during survey. The seven awareness campaigns

conducted by the MRC have unearthed

information on fresh data concerning

manuscripts.

Address:

Ms. Vandana Singhvi, Director

Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute

P.W.D Road, Jodhpur–342011

Rajasthan

Tel: 0291-2430244

10. Rampur Raza Library, Rampur Rampur Raza Library, housed in the Rampur

Fort was established by Nawab Faizu'llah Khan,

a remarkably gifted and far-sighted ruler

conversant in a number of languages. The

library is a rich storehouse of 50,000 books

and 15,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Urdu, Persian

and Turkish, many of them priceless and

ancient. It also houses Mughal miniature

paintings from the sixteenth to eighteenth

century. The Library has the status of a National

Institution and now functions under the

Department of Culture, Ministry of Culture,

Government of India.

Rampur Raza Library has a collection of one

hundred and fifty illustrated manuscripts and

eleven Descriptive Catalogues of manuscripts in

various languages and subjects. The library has

published twelve manuscripts dealing with

history and is preparing a critical edition of

44

Darbhanga–846004, Bihar

Tel/Fax: 06272-222608, 094312-53411

13. Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute ofIndology, Ahmedabad

Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology was

established by Muni Shri Punyavijayji and Shri

Kasturbhai Lalbhai. The Library, started by the

generous contribution of the founders,

gradually became a priceless repository of

manuscripts, books and other reference

material. It has a reputation as the one of the

largest treasure houses of manuscripts relating

to Jainism.

The L.D. Institute has a library consisting of

nearly 45,000 printed books nearly 75,000

manuscripts including 500 illustrated

manuscripts, covering a wide range of subjects,

like the Vedas, agamas, Buddhist religion, tantra,

Jain darshana, systems of Indian philosophy and

Jaina philosophy, grammar, poetics etc. The

institution has published seven volumes of

tabular catalogues, representing several

languages like Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsa,

Old Gujarati, Hindi and Rajasthani.

L. D. Institute, Ahmedabad has been

collaborating with the National Mission as an

MRC since September 2003. It has so far

documented 50,000 manuscripts in the

different Jaina Bhandars of Gujarat State and

catalogued 19,462 electronic data in the

e-granthavali database. It has covered eleven

institutions covering eight districts during the

survey and has held many publicity

programmes in the print and electronic media

for sensitizing the people on the preservation

of manuscripts. A two-week workshop on

manuscriptology and paleography was held in

August 2004 with forty–five participants and

twenty resource persons.

Address:

Shri Jitendra Shah, Director

Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology

Navarangpur, Near Gujarat University

Ahmedabad–380 009

Tel: 079-6302463(O), 079-2868739(R),

9825800126(M)

Email: ldii@ad1.vsnl.net.in

47

medium of composition. The Centre has

carried out extensive communication

programmes in the State. In the seventy–one

awareness campaigns conducted, thousands

of people participated and shared information

on manuscripts. The programme has been

widely publicized through local newspaper,

television and radio, evoking a good response

from the people.

Address:

Shri Bhupen Goswamee, Librarian

Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library

Gauhati University

Gopinath Bardolai Nagar

Guwahati–781014, Assam

Tel: 0361-2570529 / 2674438

Fax: 0361-2570133,

Email: kkhl@sancharnet.in

12. Kameshwar Singh DarbhangaSanskrit University, Darbhanga

Darbhanga Sanskrit University was established

in 1961, with Mahamhopadhyay Dr. Umesh

Misra, the eminent scholar, as the first Vice

Chancellor. Among the collections of the

University are manuscripts on epics,

philosophy, vyakarana, dharmashastra, agama,

tantra etc. The University has an exceptional

collection of nearly 5562 rare manuscripts

including six illustrated manuscripts of the

Ramayana, Gitagovinda, Srimadbhagavata and

Durga Saptasati etc. The few manuscripts of

Vidyapati, Mahesh Thakur composed in their

own scripts are among the proud possession of

the University.

Darbhanga Sanskrit University started

functioning as a Manuscript Resource Centre

since September 2003. Known across Bihar for

the rich manuscripts in Sanskrit, this MRC has

documented its own collections, as well as

surveyed Bihar and Jharkhand areas. It has so

far documented 2000 manuscripts, covering

forty–nine institutions and two hundred six

private collections in thirteen districts. It has

also held one awareness campaign.

Address:

Prof. Kritya Nanda Pracheta, Vice Chancellor

Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit

University Kameshwar Nagaram

46

manuscripts in the north Indian and south

Indian languages and scripts pertaining to

different subjects such as the Veda,

Upanishads, Puranas, astrology, astronomy,

ayurveda among others. They are written in

different materials like birch bark, palm-leaf and

hand-made paper. Many old and important

manuscripts have already been edited and

published and some are in process of

publication by the Institute. The latest

publication to come out of the Institute was

Asvalayana srauta in three volumes. The major

portion of the collection of this Department

has been received as gifts from different

persons/institutions from all over the country

while a few are purchased on nominal prices.

One of the unique collections of the

Institute is a manuscript (photocopy) titled

Sancha written in Pavuchi script which is

presently not known to be available in any

other collection. This script is yet to be

deciphered by the scholars. The language used

perhaps belongs to the Sirmour and Jubal

regions of Himachal Pradesh. The subjects

dealt therein are yantra, mantra, jyotisa, shakuna,

muhurta etc.

The Manuscript Resource Centre, started by

the Institute in September 2003, has been

collecting information on manuscripts through

surveys and writing letters to different

institutions. Out of the twenty surveys

conducted so far, information was gleaned on

14,000 manuscripts from different collections in

places such as Chandigarh, Patiala, Ludhiana

and Hoshiarpur. Specifically, the MRC located

nine institutional and twelve private collections,

with a total of twenty repositories so far. The

Centre has also produced more than 1000

electronic records. The nineteen awareness

events with the participation of dignitaries and

scholars have helped in advancing its

objectives of survey and documentation.

Address:

Dr. Jagdish Prasad Semwal, Chairperson

Visweshvarananda Biswabandhu Institute of

Sanskrit and Indological Studies

Sadhu Ashram, Hoshiarpur–146021, Punjab

Tel/Fax: 01882-275475 / 221002

49

14. Oriental Research Institute, Sri Venkateswara University,Tirupati

The Oriental Research Institute in Sri

Venkateswara University, Tirupati was

established by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

in 1939 and was handed over to Sri

Venkateshwara University in 1956. Set up with

the objectives of furthering Indological research

and propagating Indian culture and heritage,

the Institute has become a nucleus for

advanced research in the area.

Oriental Research Institute has a rich

collection of 50,000 palm-leaf and paper

manuscripts and 75,000 rare printed books in

its library. The Institute has published one

tabular alphabetical catalogue covering all the

subjects. The manuscripts in the collection

cover a wide range from philosophy, religion,

epic, language, grammar to poetics and

horoscopy.

The MRC at Oriental Research Institute,

Tirupati has been working together with the

NMM since September 2003. The MRC has so

far documented 20,000 manuscripts in Telugu

and Sanskrit manuscripts. Data pertaining to

3556 manuscripts have been entered in to

e-granthavali data base. The survey taken up by

the Institute has extended to eighteen

institutions and nine private collections

covering three districts of the State. It has held

two awareness campaigns and sensitization

programmes through newspaper and TV

channels. This created a good response in the

area, especially in research scholars, teachers

and manuscript holders.

Address:

Prof. V. Venkatraman Reddy, In-charge Director

Oriental Research Institute

Venkateswara University

Tirupati–517502, Andhra Pradesh

Tel: 0877-2249666 ext. 291, 9849121316

Fax: 0877-2226614

15. VisweshvaranandaBiswabandhu Institute ofSanskrit and IndologicalStudies, Hoshiarpur

Visweshvarananda Biswabandhu Institute of

Sanskrit and Indological Studies, Hoshiarpur is

an important manuscript repository from the

North-west zone of the country. The collection

of the Department is distinctive, with 2685

48

Karnataka. The Department has a four-fold

activity, which includes the collection of

manuscripts, editing them, their study in a new

dimension by adopting innovative technology

and their publication. The main objective of the

Department is to compile manuscripts that

enshrine the history of centuries, to enrich

India’s cultural history. Field work, seminar,

training courses, workshops are part of the

programme of this Department. It has so far

collected more than 4000 valuable manuscripts

including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and

Sanskrit languages besides Kannada. Some of

the most significant among them are Nammi`s

Bharata, Halayudha Stotra, Kumara Sambhava,

Shivadhikya Ratnavali, commentary on Magha

Kavya, etc. There are also several illustrated and

colored manuscripts.

The Manuscript Department of the

Manuscript Library of Kannada University

boasts of many specialties. The library has 4000

very rare manuscripts. Among the collection

Kannada manuscripts are more than 3000 in

number. The rest are in Sanskrit(300),

Telugu(30), Marathi(20), Modi script(5),

Urdu(Revenue document) etc. Copper plates

numbering more than ten and documented files

numbering more than sixare available.

The MRC at Kannada University, Hampi, has

been functioning since June 2004. A relatively

new entrant, the MRC has started work around

the area of its operation, and has documented

300 manuscripts. It has covered two

institutions and three private collections

covering two districts during survey and has

held one awareness campaign.

Address :

Dr. Veeresh S. Badiger, HoD

Manuscriptology, Kannada University

Hampi, Vidyaranya-583276

Hospet Tq.Dt-Bellary, Karnataka

Tel: 08394-441335, 441337

Fax: 08394-441334

Email: registrar@kavihampi.org

51

16. Scindia Oriental ResearchInstitute, Vikram University

Scindia Oriental Research Institute of the

Vikram University, Ujjain was established in

1957. Apart from the Scindia Oriental Research

Institute, the University also has an

archaeological museum, and an art gallery,

which are major repositories of heritage items

and artifacts.

The manuscript wealth in Scindia Oriental

Research Institute belong to all languages,

but Sanskrit is predominant. The Scindia

Oriental Institute has a rare collection of

18,000 paper, old palm-leaf and bark-leaf

(bhurja patra) manuscripts. The subjects are

wide-ranging, from ancient philosophy,

sciences religion, language, grammar and the

arts. There are some rare manuscripts of

heritage value which form part of the

collection. Some examples are the illustrated

manuscript of the Srimad-Bhagavatam set in gold

and silver, illustrated manuscripts exemplifying

the old Rajput and Mughal style paintings,

among others.

The Manuscript Resource Centre at Scindia

Oriental Research Institute, Vikram University,

Ujjain, started functioning since September

2003. The MRC has conducted extensive survey

and documentation in the state of Madhya

Pradesh and documented 20,994 manuscripts

so far. About 15,000 manuscripts codices were

integrated into the e-granthavali software of the

Mission. The Institute has so far surveyed

fifty–one institutions and private collections

covering fifteen districts throughout Madhya

Pradesh. The data received from these

institutions and private collections was on a

variety of manuscripts on paper, palm-leaf,

birch-bark written in Sanskrit and Hindi

languages.

The Scindia Oriental Research Institute has

also conducted a Workshop on

Manuscriptology and Palaeography in August

2004, which attracted students and scholars to

take up the dwindling discipline of

manuscriptology.

Address:

Dr. Balkrishna Sharma, Director

Scindia Oriental Research Institute

Vikram University, Ujjain

Tel: 0734-2515400

Fax:0734-2514276

E-Mail: sorimrc@yahoo.com

17. Department of Manuscriptology, Kannada University, Hampi

The Manuscriptology Department in the

University of Hampi, Karnataka, was started in

1996. It may be considered as the first and

foremost department designed for the study of

the manuscripts at the University level in

50

and also prepared a list of manuscripts for

digitization. It has also taken initiative in

providing conservation support to several

collections of manuscripts through applying

herbal methods for conservation of

manuscripts at the time of documentation.

20,000 manuscripts codices were fed in to e-

granthavali database. Fifteen awareness

campaigns have been held, with more than

fifteen hundred people participated in the

programme.

Address:

Prof. Ratna Basu, In-charge

Manuscript Library, Hardinge Building

1st Floor, 87/1, College Street

Senate House, University of Calcutta

Kolkata–700073

Telefax: 033-22413763, 22413222

20. Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library,University of Kerala,Thiruvananthapuram

The Manuscript Library established in the

University of Kerala is a renowned repository of

ancient manuscripts from the region. It has

more than 60,000 manuscripts in palm-leaf,

paper, ivory, tortoise shell and metal covering a

wide variety of subjects. These are found in

languages such as Sanskrit, Malayalam,

Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. The Library has

published eight volumes of Alphabetical Tabular

catalogues and two volumes of Malayalam

catalogues.

The Oriental Research Institute and

Manuscript Library, Thiruvananthapuram has

been collaborating with the Mission as

Manuscript Resource Centre since November

2003. It has so far conducted survey and

documented thirteen institutions and fifty–two

private collections in the southern part of

Kerala. Data for more than 31,700 published

and unpublished manuscripts in Sanskrit,

Malayalam, Tamil, which includes kavya, tantra,

jyotisha, ayurveda, visavaidya and purana have

been unearthed by the MRC. Four sensitization

campaigns held in different places have

resulted in wide exposure for the Mission’s

activities.

Address:

Dr. P. Vishalakshy, Head of the Department

Oriental Research Institute and

Manuscripts Library

University of Kerala, Kariavattom

Thiruvananthapuram–695585, Kerala

Tel: 0471-2418421

Fax: 0471-2302898

Email: keralauniversity@vsnl.com

53

18. Directorate of Archeology,Archives and Museum, Srinagar

The State of Jammu and Kashmir has a large

collection of manuscripts and historical

documents. Numbering about 16,000, these

manuscripts are composed in different

languages and cover many aspects such as

religion, history, literature, geography,

arithmetic, medical science and the arts. These

scripts/inscriptions are preserved in various

materials such as birch bark, hand-made paper,

wood, stone, cloth and terracotta.

The MRC at Directorate of State

Archaeology, Archives and Museum at Srinagar

has been functioning since August 2003. The

MRC has the mandate of collecting information

on the rich cultural assets in the form of

manuscripts scattered all over the region. The

Directorate which has offices both in Srinagar

and Jammu, has so far documented 10,539

manuscripts in the State and produced

electronic data for 2700. It has covered nine

institutions and thirteen private collections

covering three districts during survey and has

held three awareness campaigns across Jammu

and Kashmir.

Address:

Shri S. A. Quadri, Director

Department of Archaeology

Archives and Museums

Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar

Tel: 2472361 (Srinagar), 2578834 (Jammu)

19. Calcutta University, Kolkata Calcutta University, Kolkata, was established

in 1857. The manuscript section was in

existence right from the inception of the

University. In 1990 the Manuscript Library of

Calcutta University became a full-fledged unit

of CU under the Pro-Vice Chancellor

(Academic). The Library has a collection of

more than 42,000 manuscripts including quite

a few on palm leaves, including 20,000 in

Sanskrit, 12,000 in Tibetan and Bengali and

also several Persian and Arabic manuscripts.

They are in different languages such as Sanskrit,

Tibetan, Bangla, Oriya, Maithili, Pali, Arabic and

Persian, and in scripts like Bengali, Oriya, Gaudi,

Newari, Malayalam and Maithili. Some

manuscripts are wrought in gold and silver

lettering.

The Manuscript Resource Centre at Calcutta

University was started in August 2003. The MRC

has conducted the survey in twenty–nine

Government and Government-sponsored

libraries, seven institutional libraries, thirteen

private libraries (total forty–nine institutions)

and fifteen personal collections in West Bengal.

The MRC has documented 21,000 manuscripts

covering thirteen districts of West Bengal so far

52

23. Thunchan Memorial Trust, Tirur Thunchan Memorial Trust is established in

commemoration of Thunchan Ramanujan

Ezhuttachan, the great spiritual leader, poet

and social reformer of Kerala. Through its

several activities such as conducting seminars,

discussions and poetry readings, the Trust has

established itself as a vibrant centre of learning

dedicated to the study of history, culture and

literature of the region. The institution has a

well-developed library with significant

manuscript collection.

The Manuscript Resource Centre at

Thunchan Memorial Trust was started in June

2004. Basing itself in North Kerala, the

Institution has done significant work during the

short span towards the survey and

documentation of manuscripts. Exploration and

documentation of two institutions and one

hundred and nineteen personal collections has

emanated a data of 5515 manuscripts in three

districts of North Kerala. The Institute has

enriched the e-granthavali database by 3000

manuscripts. The MRC also helps C-DIT to

locate the Kutiyattam manuscripts in Kerala for

digitization The two promotion campaigns

conducted by the MRC in the State has helped

create awareness in the people on the need for

proper documentation and preservation of

manuscripts.

Address:

Mr. K.P. Ramanunni, Director

Thunchan Memorial Trust

Thunchan Parambu

Tirur–676 101

Malappuram District

Kerala

Tel: 0494 2422213, 2429666

Email: thunchan@vsnl.com,

Website: thunchanmemorial.org

55

21. Kurukshetra University,Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra University was established in 1956

as a unitary residential University, located in

historical city of Kurukshetra. The University has

about 5500 manuscripts deposited in the

University Library in different subjects of Indian

studies.

The Manuscript Resource Centre at

Kurukshetra University has been functioning

since October 2003 to locate and document

the manuscripts in the public and private

manuscript repositories of Haryana. The MRC

has documented 3100 data of manuscripts

covering seven districts, mostly in private

collections. It has covered two institutions and

seven private collections for documenting

manuscripts. The MRC has documented 1000

manuscript data in to the computer data base

of e-granthavali.

Address:

Shri R.D.Mehla, Librarian

Jawaharlal Nehru Library

Kurukshetra University

Kurukshetra–136119, Haryana

Tel: 01744-238367

Fax: 01744-238277

Email: rdmehla@rediffmail.com

22. Library of Tibetan Works andArchives, Dharmasala

The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,

Dharmasala, is a major repository of archival

and manuscriptural material pertaining mainly

to Buddhism. They have a collection of about

80,000 manuscripts in paper and birch bark.

The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives

started collaborating with the Mission as

Manuscript Resource Centre since September

2003. The survey in the state of Himachal

Pradesh has so far 13,150 manuscript data on

Buddhist studies, vastu, sangita, darsana, chandas,

etc. Covering five districts, the MRC has

surveyed and documented twenty–two

institutes in Himachal Pradesh. About 6530

data have been computerized into e-granthavali

software. The Institute has conducted

twenty–three awareness campaigns in which

more than one hundred and sixty people

participated. The events organized by the MRC

have been broadcast in radio and local

television channels, for wide dissemination.

Address:

Shri Lobsang Shastri, Chief Librarian

Library of Tibetan Works and Archives

Gangchen Kyisong

Dharmashala–176215

Himachal Pradesh

E-mail: lobshastri@gov.tibet.net

54

57

24. University of Madras, ChennaiThe University of Madras has been

collaborating with the Mission since August

2003 to complete the project of New Catalogus

Catalogorum which is very informative for

scholars in the field of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit.

The University has signed a second

Memorandum of Understanding in July 2004 to

collaborate with the Mission as a Manuscript

Resource Centre for locating and documenting

the manuscripts of Tamil Nadu. The MRC has

documented 1000 data of Siddha manuscripts

from two institutions and two Mutts of Chennai

and the survey was conducted in one districts.

Address:

Prof. V. Arasu, Prof. and Head

Department of Tamil Literature

Marina Campus

University of Madras

Chennai–600005

Tel: 044 28444933 / 1686

Fax: 25366693 / 28445517

E-mail: tamil_lit@rediffmail.com

25. Sri ChandrasekharendraSarasvati Visvavidyalaya,Kancheepuram

Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati

Visvavidyalaya, Kancheepuram, has started

functioning as an MRC from November 2004.

Address:

Vice Chancellor, Sri Chandrashekharendra

Saraswati University, Sri Kanchi Sankar Math

Kanchipuram–631502, Tel: 0411 2 222115

fax: 224305 VC: 264308, Fax: 224305

26. Kavikulaguru Kalidasa SanskritUniversity, Ramtek

The Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University

signed up with the Mission as MRC in

November 2004.

Address:

Dr. Pankaj Chandey, Vice Chancellor,

Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University Baghla

Bhawan, Sitalwadi, Manda Road Ramtek–441106

Tel: 07114-55549/ 0712-531298 / 560992

27. Mahabharata SamshodhanaPratishthanam, Bangalore

The newest entrant into the MRC network is the

Mahabharata Samshodhana Pratishthanam,

Bangalore, which started functioning from

December 2004.

Address:

Mr. N. Venkata Rao, Project Coordinator

Mahabharata Samshodhana Pratishthanam

#1/E, 3rd Cross, Girinagar 1st Phase

Banashankari 3rd Stage, Bangalore–560 085

Tel: 80-6422387, E-mail: mspblr@yahoo.com

56

3. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental PublicLibrary, Patna

The Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

MCC has been working with the Mission since

September 2003 for the conservation of the

thousands of manuscripts in Bihar. This past

year, the MCC undertook the preventive

conservation of the entire collection of 1500

manuscripts at Khanquah Mujeebia,

Phulwarisharif and selected rare manuscripts

among these for curative conservation. While

the conservation work is ongoing, two persons

have also been deputed to prepare a

catalogue of the manuscript collection. The

conservation work is being done by one

conservation expert along with a support staff

of eight, of which four members have attended

training workshops in Bhubaneswar and

Lucknow. Six awareness campaigns have been

held, in which more than five hundred people

participated and more will be held in the

coming year.

Address:

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Director

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

Ashok Rajpath

Patna–800 004, Bihar

Tel: 0612-2300209 (O), 0612-2301507 (R)

Fax: 0612-2300209

Email: kblibpat@sancharnet.in

4. Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad

The famous Salar Jung Museum houses one of

the finest collections of art objects of Asia

anywhere in the world. The collection largely

belonged to the late Hyderabadi noble Salar

Jung III, who inherited some of this priceless

collection of vases, carpets, sculpture, furniture

and manuscripts among other objects, from his

father and grandfather. The Museum began its

association with the Mission as an MCC in

October 2003, for the conservation of

manuscripts in Andhra Pradesh. It has

conducted three awareness–cum–training

workshops on preventive conservation in 2004

including two one-day workshops in Warangal in

which forty–five librarians and book-binders

participated, a three-day workshop on

preventive conservation of paper and palm-leaf

in which thirty–seven conservators and

custodians took part and a five-day trainers’

training workshop on preventive conservation

in Hyderabad.

About 40,000 manuscripts have also been

treated by trained surveyors. The conservators

have carried out conservation work on 699

calligraphic panels and 9 manuscripts in Salar

Jung Museum. The MCC’s work has also been

covered by a television channel and they plan

to expand their outreach programmes through

a one-month training course for curators,

59

1. Bhandarkar Research Institute,Pune

The Bhandarkar Research Institute signed the

MOU with the Mission in September 2003. It

has set up a full-fledged laboratory. Two

conservators are already working with the MCC

and six others have been trained in preventive

conservation. The MCC has identified eighteen

institutions in Maharashtra and preventive

conservation work has been carried out in four

of them. More than 10,000 folios have been

selected for preventive conservation while ten

select manuscripts from Bharat Itihaas

Sansodhan Mandal, Pune, are under curative

method of conservation. The MCC organized a

two-day workshop on preventive conservation

which was attended by thirty–nine people from

various institutes all over Maharashtra. Six

lectures on preventive conservation of

manuscripts were held at K.J. Somaiya Centre of

Buddhist Studies. Fifty students participated in

these programmes and gave a positive response.

Address:

Prof. Saroja Bhate, Hony. Secretary

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Deccan Gymkhana, Pune–411037

Tel: 020-25656932

Fax: 020-25661362

Email: boril@vsnl.net

Website: www.bori.ac.in

2. Mural Painting ConservationResearch and Training Centre,Sakthan Tampuran Palace,Thrissur

Among the newest of our MCC-s, the Mural

Painting Conservation Research and Training

Centre, Sakthan Tampuran Palace, Thrissur, is a

repository of art objects, paintings and historical

data. The Centre began collaborating with the

Mission in July 2004. With a staff of five, the

Centre has identified ten institutions and private

collections for preventive conservation and

carried out an assessment of the conservation

status of their collections. Brief guidelines on

preventive conservation have been prepared by

the MCC and circulated to these institutions.

Curative conservation is being carried out on

the collection of palm-leaf manuscripts at

Vadakke Madham Brahmaswam, Thrissur, at

present. A workshop in collaboration with the

State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram, on

preventive conservation of palm-leaf and paper

manuscripts is also in the offing.

Address:

Shri Aravind Kumar, Project Coordinator

Mural Painting Conservation Research and

Training Centre, Sakthan Thampuran Palace

Thrissur–680021, Kerala

Tel: 0487-2321633, Fax: 0487-2320800

Email: mcrtthrissur@rediffmail.com

58

ManuscriptConservationCentres2004-05

15,646 folios were fumigated and 1950 folios

were wrapped in cardboard and cloth. An

awareness campaign was held in Bikaner in

which 300 people participated. As the MCC has

collected more than one lakh manuscripts in all

its branches, including the head office, priority

has been given to the conservation of their own

manuscript collections.

Address:

Ms. Vandana Singhvi, Director

Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute

P.W.D Road, Jodhpur–342011, Rajasthan

Tel: 0291-2430244

7. Indian Conservation Institute,Lucknow

The Indian Conservation Institute was

established in 1985 as INTACH’s first

conservation laboratory. It has been associated

with the Mission as an MCC since September

2003. With a staff of five trained conservators,

the MCC has conducted intensive training

programmes for surveys and preventive

conservation in Uttar Pradesh as well as in

other parts of India. The MCC has set up a

good conservation laboratory with some new

equipment. A meeting was organized by the

MCC in association with the Mission in

Lucknow for the four INTACH MCC-s to spell

out specific responsibilities vis-à-vis manuscript

conservation and chalk out an action plan. The

MCC has thus far carried out surveys in thirteen

different institutions and collections in U.P.

covering several thousand manuscripts.

Preventive conservation work was carried out

on eight different collections around U.P.

Curative conservation work was carried out on

the famous Chitrakoot Ramcharitmanas found at

the Shri Ramcharitmanas Mandir, Rajapur

covering one hundred and sixty–nine folios and

on five manuscripts from a private collection.

ICC Lucknow, INTACH and NMM jointly

organized a workshop for teachers on

preventive conservation in which the

participants included nineteen conservators

and custodians. A ten-day workshop on

preventive conservation was organized in

collaboration with the Mission and twenty

private collectors, heads of museums and

members of libraries and archives from

Lucknow, Bandha, Varanasi, Behraich, Agra,

Itanagar and New Delhi participated.

Address:

Ms. Mamata Misra, Director

Indian Council of Conservation Institutes

B-44, Nirala Nagar

Lucknow–226020

Tel: 0522-2787159 (O) 0522-2260275 (R)

Fax: 0522-2377858

E-mail: iccins@sancharnet.in

61

librarians, archivists, art conservators, students

of art and science and custodians of manuscripts.

Address:

Dr. A.K. V. S. Reddy, Director

Salarjung Museum

Salarjung Marg

Hyderabad–500002

Tel: 040-2457643 (O) 040-24576107 (R)

9848076618 (M)

Fax: 040-24572558

E-mail: salarjung@hotmail.com

5. Government Museum, Chennai

In 1846, the Madras Literary Society mooted

the idea for a museum in Madras for which the

then Governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, obtained

approval from the Court of Directors of English

East India Company. The Museum opened in

1851 and several additions and moves later,

came to stand in its present premises. The

Government Museum began its collaboration

with the Mission recently, as an MCC, in August

2004. Using existing laboratory facilities, new

equipment was purchased and staff is being

appointed. A one-day training programme was

conducted for students in the M. Lib. Sc.

Course. An exhibition was organized on

materials required for preventive conservation

on manuscripts. Already, the MCC has carried

out the preventive care of manuscript and book

collections of three institutions in Chennai.

One trainers’ training workshop was also held

in collaboration with the Mission for training in

preventive conservation in which twenty

participants from around South India

participated.

Address:

Dr. V. Jeyaraj, Curator

Tamil Nadu Government Museum

Egmore, Chennai–600008

Tel: 044-31008253, 044-31008253(M)

E-mail: jeyarajv@vsnl.com

6. Rajasthan Oriental ResearchInstitute, Jodhpur

The Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute was

set up by the State Government of Rajasthan in

1950 as the Sanskrit Mandal to save the

ancient literature of Rajasthan and surrounding

areas in Sanskrit, Apabrahmsa, Hindi-Rajasthani

and Prakrit. It took its present form as RORI in

1954. The RORI Manuscript Conservation

Centre began working with the Mission in

October 2003. The MCC is involved in

conservation work with its twenty–four existing

staff and has set up a laboratory complete with

fumigation chambers, a vacuum cleaner, etc.

Preventive conservation was carried out in four

institutions. About 3418 folios were repaired,

60

was carried out on ten damaged manuscripts

according to recommended conservation

methods such as cleaning, consolidation, re-

sizing, stain removal, de-acidification, lining

trimming and binding. As a follow-up to survey

work, conservation reports were made for seven

collections. Awareness campaigns have been

organized through meetings, newspapers and

broadcasting media. A ten-day preventive

workshop was held to enable participants to

take up measures against deterioration and

decay of manuscripts in which thirty–four

trainees and conservation experts participated.

Address:

Dr. W. H Siddiqui, Director

Rampur Raza Library, Hamid Manzil

Rampur–244901, Uttar Pradesh

Tel: 0595-2325045, Fax: 0595-2340548

Email: whsiddiqui@rediffmail.com

E-mail: director@razalibrary.com

Website: www.razalibrary.com

11. KKHL Manuscript ConservationCentre, Guwahati

The MCC signed an MOU with the Mission on 3

November 2003. It has five staff members

including an archivist and a conservationist. A

modest conservation laboratory has been set

up with basic chemicals while intensive training

has been given to some of the staff members.

About 2000 volumes of manuscripts in 15

institutions have been given preventive

treatment and about 500 manuscripts have

been given curative treatment. A strong

emphasis was laid on awareness programmes

and about seventy–one campaigns have already

been done including a radio programme.

Address:

Shri Bhupen Goswamee, Librarian

Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library

Gauhati University, Gopinath Bardolai Nagar

Guwahati–781014, Assam

Tel: 0361-2570529/2674438

Fax: 0361-2570133

Email: kkhl@sancharnet.in

63

8. Orissa Art Conservation Centre,Bhubaneswar

The INTACH ICI Orissa Art Conservation Centre

started functioning in September 2003 with a

staff of fourteen conservators. The MCC carried

out conservation of palm-leaf and paper

manuscripts at sixteen places in Orissa. In the

current year about 6000 manuscripts and 5.15

lakh folios were conserved. The MCC has an

excellent laboratory for conservation of palm-

leaf and paper manuscripts. Twenty awareness

camps were organized in rural and urban parts

of Orissa including Bhubaneswar to spread

awareness the region’s priceless possession of

manuscripts and how to take proper care of

such manuscripts. The ICC OACC conducted a

three-month training course on conservation of

palm-leaf and paper manuscripts which was

organized in collaboration with the Mission with

thirteen trainees from various conservation

centres. The OACC also organized a ten- day

workshop on preventive conservation of

manuscripts which had fifty-three participants.

Address:

Ms. Mallika Mitra

INTACH ICI - Orissa Art Conservation Centre

Orissa State Museum Premises

Bhubaneswar, Orissa–751 014

Tel: 0674-243 2638, 9437162758 (M)

Fax: 2432638, E-mail: icioacc@sancharnet.in

9. INTACH Chitrakala Parishath ArtConservation Centre, Bangalore

The INTACH Chitrakala Parishath Art

Conservation Centre started functioning from

23 September 2003 with three conservators.

The MCC has completed preventive

conservation on palm-leaf and paper

manuscripts in four institutions. It has a well-

equipped laboratory. The MCC conducted four

workshops on preventive conservation of

manuscripts which had more than one hundred

trainees.

Address:

Ms. Mallika Mitra

INTACH ICI - Orissa Art Conservation Centre

Orissa State Museum Premises

Bhubaneswar, Orissa–751 014

Tel: 0674-243 2638, 9437162758 (M)

Fax: 2432638

E-mail: icioacc@sancharnet.in

10. Rampur Raza Library, RampurRampur Raza Library started collaboration with

Mission from September 2003. The MCC has

procured the necessary conservation tools,

chemicals, hand-made papers and other

infrastructure. It has carried out preventive

conservation work in six institutes, covering a

total number of two hundred and five

manuscripts. Special conservation treatment

62

14. Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute ofIndology, Ahmedabad

The MOU was signed on 23 September 2003.

The survey was conducted in seven institutions

covering central and north Gujarat. A mass

awareness campaign was launched through

press releases in all major dailies and All India

Radio, Ahmedabad, and also on regional

channels of Doordarshan. The conservation

laboratory is in the process of being set up.

Address:

Shri Jitendra Shah, Director; Lalbhai Dalpatbhai

Institute of Indology, Navarangpur

Near Gujarat University, Ahmedabad–380 009

Tel: 079-6302463 (O), 079-2868739 (R),

9825800126 (M), Email: ldii@ad1.vsnl.net.in

15. Central Institute of BuddhistStudies, Leh

The MOU was signed on 20 October 2003. At

present a staff of two personnel is being

trained in conservation of manuscripts.

Some necessary equipment such as a

hygrometer has been acquired.

Address:

Dr. Tashi Paljor, Principal

Central Institute of Buddhist Studies

Cholamsar, Leh (Laddak)–194001

Tel/Fax: 01982-264391

16. Vrindavan Research Institute,Vrindavan

MOU was signed on 12 September 2003.

Preventive conservation was carried out in

twelve institutions in Mathura and Agra regions.

Awareness campaigns were held in four

institutions which included lectures and

demonstrations by experts from all over India.

An extensive awareness programme is

scheduled in future.

Address:

Shri Pulin Goswami

Vrindavan Research Institute

Raman Reti, Vrindavan 281121

Tel: 0565 – 2540628, Fax – 2540576

Email: Vrivbn@sancharnet.in

65

12. Scindia Oriental ResearchInstitute, Ujjain

The MOU was signed on 15 June 2004. A space

has been allocated and two staff members have

been trained. Two awareness campaigns have

been held which was attended by 5000 persons.

More than 200 manuscripts were donated to

the Institute by members of the community.

The preventive and curative conservation work

will be taken up as soon as the laboratory is

set up.

Address:

Dr. Balkrishna Sharma, Director

Scindia Oriental Research Institute

Vikram University, Ujjain

Tel: 0734-2515400

Fax:0734-2514276

E-Mail: sorimrc@yahoo.com

13. Indira Gandhi National Centrefor the Arts, New Delhi

The MOU was signed on 11 December 2003.

The Centre has a staff of three personnel. The

Centre also has an analysis and suction

treatment area and a binding section. The

equipment in the Centre includes a fume

extractor, a water distiller and a heavy press. All

three members are trained in preventive and

curative conservation. Preventive conservation

has been carried out on a 1000 manuscripts in

2 institutions while curative treatment has been

given to 20 manuscripts (1000 folios). Two

awareness campaigns covering Delhi and

Haryana were held. A national level workshop

on preventive conservation of manuscripts was

organized from 1 - 7 November 2004. Also, the

project coordinator delivers lectures at various

workshops.

Address:

Ms. Ritu Jain, Conservation Assistant

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

Janpath, New Delhi–110001

Tel: 011-23385257, 9811288650 (M)

E-mail: ritujain1970@hotmail.com

64

20. Mahavir Digambar JainPandulipi Sanrakshan Kendra,Jain Vidya Sansthan, Jaipur

The MOU was signed on 12 November 2004.

Address:

Dr. K.C. Sogani, Project Coordinator

Mahavir Digambar Jain Pandulipi

Sanrakshan Kendra, Jain Vidya Sansthan

Nasian Bhattarakji, Sawai Ramsingh Road

Jaipur–302 004

Tel: 0141-2385247, Fax: 0141-2385247

67

17. Karnataka State Archives,Bangalore

The MOU was signed with Karnataka State

Archives on 20 August 2004. A five-day

workshop on conservation of paper

manuscripts and palm-leaf manuscripts was

organised at Shri Rajarajeshwari Vidya Samsthe,

Karnataka where about forty participants were

trained. They have a full-fledged conservation

laboratory.

Address:

Sri B Sridhar, Director

Karnataka State Archive, Room No.-11

Ground Floor, Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore–1

Tel: 080-22254465

Email: archives@kar.nic.in

18. Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’sSaraswati Mahal Library,Thanjavur

MOU was signed on 28 October 2003.

Address:

Shri P. Perumal, Project Coordinator

Tanjavur Maharaja Serfoji Sarasvati Mahal Library

Thanjavur–613009 Tamil Nadu

Tel: 04362-234107

E-mail: tng_sarsvath@sancharnet.in

19. Sambalpur University, Burla,Orissa

Sambalpur University joined hands with the

Mission as a Manuscript Conservation Centre

in August 2004. Five conservators are currently

working at the MCC for the conservation of

manuscripts in the Sambalpur region and the

northern part of Orissa. One awareness

campaign was held at the P.G. Department of

History while three more campaigns and

workshops are planned for the future. The

preventive conservation of a palm-leaf

manuscript library has already been initiated at

Dr. N.K. Sahu Museum. Curative conservation of

select manuscripts is being planned, and the

laboratory is in the process of being set up.

Address:

Prof. P.K. Nayak, Project Coordinator

Manuscript Conservation centre

P.G. Department of History

Samabalpur University, Jyoti Vihar

Burla–768019, Orissa

Tel: 0663-2432061, 0663-2430329 (O)

9437219851(M)

66

6968

Performance Summary 2004-2005Manuscript Resource Centres

Sl. Name of Manuscript Resource Centre Scholars and Awareness Districts Data Institute Private No. Staff Associated Campaigns Covered Documented Surveyed Collections

1 Manuscripts Library, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 10 15 13 21,000 49 15

2 Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur 16 7 13 61,732 68 18

3 French Institute of Pondicherry, Pondicherry 1 - 2 2,500 6 11

4 Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar 33 42 20 83,700 8 -

5 Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna 9 6 6 12,000 22 32

6 Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library, Guwahati 6 71 13 15,000 46 216

7 Manipur State Archives, Imphal 4 13 14 5,406 5 13

8 Directorate of State Archaeology, Archives and Museum, 4 3 3 10,539 9 13Jammu and Kashmir

9 Oriental Research Institute, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati 4 2 3 20,000 18 9

10 Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad 17 8 8 50,000 11 -

11 Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala 7 23 5 13,150 22 -

12 Vishveshvarananda Biswabandhu 19 3 14,000 9 12 -Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies, Hoshiarpur

13 Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh 5 20 1 3,492 14 6

14 Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library, Thanjavur 4 1 2 5,000 3 20

15 Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga 14 1 13 2,000 8 -

16 Rampur Raza Library, Rampur 10 5 25 20,000 40 60

17 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune 1 6 14,916 23 32

18 Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Vikram University, Ujjain 7+1 1 15 20,994 35 19

19 Kurukshetra University Library, Kurukshetra 5 1 7 3,100 2 7

20 Oriental Research Institute, Mysore 3 9 3 12,500 15 -

21 Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, 8 4 - 31,738 13 52Thiruvananthapuram

22. Kannada University, Hampi 4 1 2 300 2 2

23 Thunchan Memorial Trust 4 2 3 5,515 2 119

24 Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati University, Kanchipuram - - - - - -

25. University of Madras, Chennai 4 - 1 1,000 2 2

26 Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek - - - - - -

27. Mahabharata Samshodhana Pratishthanam, Bangalore - - - - - -

Sl. Name of Manuscript Conservation Centre Conservator and Awareness Conservation Institute Collections Individual Collections Lab. Staff Associated Campaigns Work Done Identified Identified Set up

1 Orissa Art Conservation Centre, Bhubaneswar 11 20 Preventive and Curative 25 - yes

2 Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur 24 1 Preventive and Curative 4 - yesExisting staff

3 INTACH, Indian Council of Conservation Institutes, Lucknow 5 2 Preventive and Curative 13 - yes

4 Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna 9 6 Preventive and Curative 6 yes no

5 Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library, Guwahati 5 71 Preventive 15 - yes

6 Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad 6 3 Preventive 4 37 no

7 Rampur Raza Library, Rampur 5 2 Preventive and Curative 12 3 yes

8 INTACH Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore 3 5 Preventive and Curative 20 1 yes

9 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune 1 1 Preventive and Curative 14 - yes

10 Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library, Thanjavur - - - - - yes

11 Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi 3 2 Preventive and Curative 3 - yes

12 Vrindavan Research Institute, Vrindavan - 4 Preventive 12 - yes

13 Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh 2 1 Preventive and Curative 2 - no

14 Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad 3 3 Preventive and Curative 7 - -

15 Government Museum, Egmore, Chennai - 2 Preventive 3 - yes

16. Sambalpur University, Sambalpur 4 1 Preventive and Curative 3 - yes

17 Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Ujjain 2 2 - - - yes

18 Mural Painting Conservation Research and Training Centre, Thrissur 5 - Preventive and Curative 10 - yes

19. Karnataka State Archive, Bangalore 2 1 Preventive 20 - yes

20. Mahavir Digambar Jain Pandulipi Sanrakshan Kendra, - - - - - -Jain Vidya Sansthan, Jaipur

70

Performance Summary 2004-2005Manuscript Conservation Centres 71

National Mission for Manuscripts,New Delhi1. Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Mission Director,

NMM, New Delhi, Tel: 011-23383894,

Fax: 011-23073340

2. Dr. D.K. Rana, Assistant Director, NMM,

New Delhi, Tel: 011-23073387

3. Shri J.P.S. Tyagi, Accounts Officer, NMM,

New Delhi, Tel: 011-23073317

4. Ms. Gitanjali Surendran,

Coordinator (Survey), NMM, New Delhi,

Tel: 011-23383894

5. Mr. Ganesh Panda, Coordinator

(Documentation), NMM, New Delhi

Tel: 011-23073387

6. Mr. Anupam Sah, Coordinator

(Conservation), NMM, Lucknow,

Tel: 0522-2787159

6. Mr. Anurag Arora, Coordinator

(Digitization), NMM, New Delhi,

Tel: 001-2307 3387

Manuscript Resource Centres:1. Prof. Saroja Bhate, Hony. Secretary,

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,

Pune–411037, Tel: 020-25656932

Fax: 020-25661362, Email: boril@vsnl.net,

Website: www.bori.ac.in

2. Mr. P. Perumal, Project Coordinator,

Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati

Mahal Library, Thanjavur–613009,

Tamil Nadu, Tel: 04362-234107 (library),

230206, Fax: 04362-233568, 230857

3. Dr. Tashi Paljor, Principal, Central Institute

of Buddhist Studies, Leh (Laddak)–194001

Tel/Fax: 01982-264391

4. Sri T. Ganeshan, Project Coordinator,

French Institute of Pondicherry,

Pondicherry–605001

Tel: 0413-2334168 Ext.123

Fax: 0413-2339534

5. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Director, Khuda Bakhsh

Oriental Public Library, Patna–800 004,

Bihar, Tel: 0612-2300209 (O),

0612-2301507 (R), Fax: 0612-2300209,

Email: kblibpat@sancharnet.in

6. Dr. K Sushila, Director, Manipur State

Archives, Imphal–795001, Manipur

Tel/Fax: 0385-2222813

7. Dr. K.V. Ramesh, Director, Oriental Research

Institute, University of Mysore

Mysore–570005, Karnataka,

Tel: 0821-2423136/2420331,

Email: mrcmys@yahoo.com

8. Dr.C.B.Patel, Superintendent, Orissa State

Museum, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa

Tel/Fax: 0674-2431597, 9437090569

Email: cbpatelosm@rediff.com

9. Ms. Vandana Singhvi, Director, Rajasthan

Oriental Research Institute,

Jodhpur–342011 Rajasthan,

Tel: 0291-2430244

72 Mission Directory

10. Dr. W. H Siddiqui, Director,

Rampur Raza Library, Rampur–244901

Tel: 0595-2325045, Fax: 0595-2340548

Email: whsiddiqui@rediffmail.com

director@razalibrary.com,

Website: www.razalibrary.com

11. Shri Bhupen Goswami, Librarian, Krishna

Kanta Handiqui Library, Gauhati University,

Guwahati–781014, Assam,

Tel: 0361-2570529/2674438,

Fax: 0361-2570133

Email: kkhl@sancharnet.in

12. Prof. Kritya Nanda Pracheta,

Vice Chancellor, Kameshwar Singh

Darbhanga Sanskrit University

Darbhanga–846004, Bihar,

Tel/Fax: 06272-222608, 094312-53411

13. Shri Jitendra Shah, Director, Lalbhai

Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology,

Ahmedabad–380 009,

Tel: 079-6302463(O), 079-2868739(R),

9825800126(M)

Email: ldii@ad1.vsnl.net.in

14. Prof. V. Venkatraman Reddy, In-charge

Director, Oriental Research Institute,

Venkateswara University,

Tirupati–517502, Andhra Pradesh,

Tel: 0877-2249666 Ext. 291, 9849121316,

Fax: 0877-2226614

15. Dr. Jagdish Prasad Semwal, Chairperson,

Visweshvarananda Biswabandhu Institute

of Sanskrit and Indological Studies,

Hoshiarpur–146021, Punjab,

Tel/Fax: 01882-275475/221002

16. Dr. Balkrishna Sharma, Director, Scindia

Oriental Research Institute,

Vikram University, Ujjain,

Tel: 0734-2515400, Fax : 0734-2514276,

E-mail:sorimrc@yahoo.com

17. Dr. Veeresh S. Badiger, Head of

Department, Manuscriptology, Kannada

University, Hampi,Vidyaranya–583276,

Karnataka, Tel: 08394 441335, 441337

Fax: 08394 441334,

Email: registrar@kavihampi.org

18. Shri S. A. Quadri, Director, Department of

Archaeology, Archives and Museums,

Government of Jammu and Kashmir,

Srinagar

Tel: 2472361 (Srinagar) 2578834 (Jammu)

19. Prof. Ratna Basu, In-charge, Manuscript

Library, University of Calcutta,

Kolkata–700073,

Telefax: 033-22413763, 22413222

20. Dr. P. Vishalakshy, Head of the Department,

Oriental Research Institute and

Manuscripts Library, University of Kerala,

Thiruvananthapuram–695585, Kerala

Tel: 0471-2418421, Fax: 0471 2302898,

Email: keralauniversity@vsnl.com

21. Shri R.D.Mehla, Librarian, Jawaharlal Nehru

Library, Kurukshetra University,

73

0522-2260275 (R), Fax: 0522- 2377858,

E-mail: iccins@sancharnet.in

8. Ms. Mallika Mitra, INTACH ICI - Orissa Art

Conservation Centre, Orissa State Museum

Premises, Bhubaneswar–751 014, Orissa

Tel: 0674-243 2638, 9437162758 (M)

Fax: 2432638 E-mail: icioacc@sancharnet.in

9. Shri S. Subbaraman, Director, ICKPAC,

INTACH Chitrakala Parishath Art

Conservation Centre, Bangalore–560 001

Tel : 080-2250418 Email: ickpac@vsnl.net

10. Dr. W. H Siddiqui, Director, Rampur Raza

Library, Rampur–244901, Uttar Pradesh

Tel: 0595-2325045, Fax: 0595-2340548

Email: whsiddiqui@rediffmail.com

E-mail: director@razalibrary.com

Website: www.razalibrary.com

11. Shri Bhupen Goswamee, Librarian, Krishna

Kanta Handiqui Library, Gauhati University,

Guwahati–781014, Assam

Tel: 0361-2570529/2674438

Fax: 0361-2570133,

Email: kkhl@sancharnet.in

12. Dr. Balkrishna Sharma, Director, Scindia

Oriental Research Institute

Vikram University, Ujjain

Tel: 0734-2515400, Fax: 0734-2514276,

E-Mail: sorimrc@yahoo.com

13. Ms. Ritu Jain, Conservation Assistant,

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,

Janpath, New Delhi–110001

Tel: 011-23385257, 9811288650 (M),

E-mail: ritujain1970@hotmail.com

14. Shri Jitendra Shah, Director, Lalbhai

Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology,

Navarangpur, Near Gujarat University,

Ahmedabad–380 009, Tel: 0796302463 (O)

079-2868739(R), Email: ldii@ad1.vsnl.net.in

15. Dr. Tashi Paljor, Principal, Central Institute

of Buddhist Studies, Leh (Laddak)–194001,

Tel/Fax: 01982-264391

16. Shri Pulin Goswami, Vrindavan Research

Institute, Vrindavan–281121

Tel: 0565-2540628, Fax: 2540576

Email: Vrivbn@sancharnet.in

17. Sri B Sridhar, Director, Karnataka State

Archive, Bangalore–1, Tel: 080-22254465,

Email: archives@kar.nic.in

18. Shri P. Perumal, Project Coordinator,

Tanjavur Maharaja Serfoji Sarasvati Mahal

Library, Thanjavur–613009 Tamil Nadu

Tel: 04362-234107,

E-mail: tng_sarsvath@sancharnet.in

19. Prof. P.K. Nayak, Project Coordinator,

Samabalpur University, Burla–768019,

Orissa, Tel: 0663-2432061,

0663-2430329(O) 9437219851(M)

20. Dr. K.C. Sogani, Project Coordinator,

Mahavir Digambar Jain Pandulipi

Sanrakshan Kendra, Jain Vidya Sansthan,

Jaipur–302 004, Tel: 0141 2385247,

Fax: 0141 2385247

75

Kurukshetra–136119, Haryana

Tel: 01744-238367, Fax: 01744-238277,

Email: rdmehla@rediffmail.com

22. Shri Lobsang Shastri, Chief Librarian,

Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,

Dharmashala–176215, Himachal Pradesh,

E-mail: lobshastri@gov.tibet.net

23. Mr. K.P. Ramanunni, Director, Thunchan

Memorial Trust, Thunchan Parambu,

Tirur–676 101, Kerala,

Tel: 0494 2422213, 2429666,

Email: thunchan@vsnl.com,

Website: thunchanmemorial.org

24. Prof. V. Arasu, Prof. and Head, Department

of Tamil Literature, University of Madras,

Chennai–600005, Tel: 044 28444933/1686

Fax: 25366693/28445517,

E-mail: tamil_lit@rediffmail.com

25. Vice Chancellor, Sri Chandrashekharendra

Saraswati University, Sri Kanchi Sankar

Math, Kanchipuram–631502,

Tel: 0411-2222115, Fax: 224305

VC: 264308, Fax: 224305

26. Dr. Pankaj Chandey, Vice Chancellor,

Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University,

Ramtek–441106,

Tel: 07114-55549/ 0712-531298/560992

27. Mr. N. Venkata Rao, Project Coordinator,

Mahabharata Samshodhana

Pratishthanam, Bangalore–560 085,

Tel: 80-6422387, E-mail: mspblr@yahoo.com

Manuscript Conservation Centres1. Prof. Saroja Bhate, Hony. Secretary,

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,

Pune–411037, Tel: 020-25656932

Fax: 020-25661362, Email: boril@vsnl.net,

Website: www.bori.ac.in

2. Shri Arvind Kumar, Project Coordinator,

Mural Painting Conservation Research and

Training Centre, Thrissur–680021, Kerala

Tel: 0487-2321633, Fax: 0487-2320800

Email: mcrtthrissur@rediffmail.com

3. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Director, Khuda Bakhsh

Oriental Public Library, Patna–800 004,

Bihar, Tel: 0612-2300209 (O),

0612-2301507 (R), Fax: 0612-2300209,

Email: kblibpat@sancharnet.in

4. Dr. A.K.V.S. Reddy, Director, Salarjung

Museum, Hyderabad–500002,

Tel: 040-2457643(O) 040-24576107(R)

9848076618(M), Fax: 040-24572558,

E-mail: salarjung@hotmail.com

5. Dr. V. Jeyaraj, Curator, Tamil Nadu

Government Museum, Egmore,

Chennai–600008, Tel.:044-31008253

044-31008253(M), E-mail: jeyarajv@vsnl.com

6. Ms. Vandana Singhvi, Director, Rajasthan

Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur–342011

Rajasthan, Tel: 0291-2430244

7. Ms. Mamata Misra, Director,

Indian Council of Conservation Institutes

Lucknow–226020, Tel: 0522-2787159(O)

74

1. Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology,

Ahmedabad

2. Krishna Kanta Handiqui Library

Gauhati University, Guwahati

3. Visvesvarananda Biswabandhu Institute of

Sanskrit and Indological Studies,

Hoshiarpur

4. Manipur State Archives, Imphal

5. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library,

Patna

6. Directorate of State Archaeology and State

Museum, Jammu and Kashmir

7. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,

Dharamsala

8. Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh

9. Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute,

Jodhpur

10. Oriental Research Institute, Mysore

11. Kannada University, Hampi

12. National Museum, New Delhi

13. Rampur Raza Library, Rampur

14. Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar

15. Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Vikram

University, Ujjain

16. Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

76

PhotoAcknowledgements(for the manuscripts featured inthe foregoing pages)