Manuscripts

• Sources in the Culture Ministry say the government is planning to introduce the National Manuscripts Bill, 2023, possibly in the Winter Session of Parliament.
• The primary aim is
  • to document and catalogue Indian heritage texts wherever they may be, in India or abroad,
  • maintain accurate and up-to-date information about them, and
  • detail the conditions under which they may be consulted.

ABOUT INDIAN MANUSCRIPTS

• Manuscripts are written on materials such as palm leaf, paper, cloth, and bark on themes ranging from history and religion to literature, astrology, and agricultural practice.
• As per National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), India possesses an estimated 10 million manuscripts in 80 ancient scripts like Brahmi, Kushan, Gaudi, Lepcha, and Maithili.
• While 75% of the existing manuscripts are in Sanskrit, 25% are in regional languages, according to the NMM.
• India has a large collection of ancient manuscripts, a part of the country’s cultural heritage, but over the years many have been lost or lie in museums abroad. For e.g.
  • The Bakhshali manuscript, an ancient Indian mathematical text written on birch bark, is considered to be the earliest recorded example of the use of zero.
  • The seminal text, dating back 3-4 century A.D., is in one of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford.

ABOUT NATIONAL MISSION FOR MANUSCRIPTS (NMM)

• NMM is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture.
• NMM is mandated with preserving the vast manuscript wealth of India.
• The NMM has digitised 3.3 lakh manuscripts, containing about 1 crore folios.
  • Even though more than 1.18 lakh manuscripts have been uploaded, only about 70,000 have been made available online for public access.
• The Sarasvati Mahal Library in Thanjavur, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi, and the Oriental Research Institute in Jammu and Kashmir are some of the places which house the largest number of manuscripts in India.