Forty-five manuscripts, considered as India’s “treasures”, were identified by the National Mission for Manuscripts in February this year as “Vijnananidhi” based on an evaluation by scholars, and their custodians were honoured for preserving them. These are only some “gems” among the one million manuscripts placed in the public domain .
The neglect of treasures like our manuscripts and what their inheritance means for an India now scripting its pre-eminence in the knowledge economy of the 21st century can never be overemphasised. There could not be a better time to consider a revival of the centres that hold some of these treasures in India.
Their locations, their content and their early preservers all are testimony to our plural heritage and our eclectic traditions. From the Gilgit Manuscripts in 570 folios written in birch-bark, now preserved at the National Archives of India and the Sir Pratap Singh Museum in Srinagar and the Dhul Wa (Vinaya Pitaka) housed in Kargon Gompa in Ladakh to the Arthasastra and Natya Sastra manuscripts, both on palm leaf, in the Oriental Research Institute in Mysore to the Kitab-al-Hashaish and Kitab-al-Tasrif in Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library in Patna to the Bhagavata Purana, Chikitsasarasangraha, Mahabhashya and the Rigvedasamhita in the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Library in Pune, this treasure trove of knowledge is every Indian’s proud possession.
Wide range
The Calcutta University, established in 1857, has a collection of over 42,000 manuscripts including 20,000 Sanskrit manuscripts and several in Persian, Arabic, as well as Tibetan, Bangla, Oriya, Maithili, Gaudi, Newari and Malayalam. Some of these are wrought in gold and silver lettering. Ashtasahasrikaprajnaparamita, the most important text of Mahayana Buddhism dating to the 15th century, is at this institution. The Bengali Ramayana, popularly known as Krittivasaramayana after its translator-poet Krittivilas Ojha, is believed to have been translated into languages like Assamese, Tamil, Malayalam and Brijbhasha. This is acknowledged as a significant literary work in its own right, contributing to the development of the Bengali language. Composed in medieval Bengali and written in medieval Bengali script, this manuscript is in three volumes on hand-made paper in the Calcutta University.