India to host international manuscript heritage conference in September
The three-day conference, titled 'Reclaiming India's Knowledge Legacy Through Manuscript Heritage', is being organised from September 11-13 in the national capital as part of the launch of the 'Gyan Bharatam Mission'.
The conference will also commemorate Swami Vivekananda's Chicago address (September 11, 1893), symbolising India's intellectual and spiritual global vision, official sources said.
The Centre had announced the 'Gyan Bharatam Mission' (GBM) in the Union Budget 2025–26, for reviving and expanding the vision of the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) launched in 2003. The GBM seeks to preserve, digitise, and disseminate manuscript knowledge, integrate it with modern technologies, and foster a new generation of scholars and institutions to carry the legacy forward.
The conference will be graced by various eminent dignitaries of India, and will feature keynotes and participation by global scholars, thought leaders, and cultural custodians.
There will also be numerous side events like an exhibition on Indian Manuscripts and Script Heritage, an exhibition of manuscripts inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World, live demonstrations of conservation and digitisation tools, along with hands-on workshops and a special space for startups in the field.
The Union Culture Ministry has also invited original research papers, case studies, and conceptual frameworks to be presented on themes like, Conservation and Restoration of Manuscripts, Survey, Documentation, and Metadata Standards, Digitisation Tools, Platforms, and Protocols (HTR, AI, IIIF), Paleography, Codicology, and Script Training Initiatives and Legal and Ethical Aspects of Manuscript Custodianship.
India possesses one of the richest manuscript heritages in the world, with an estimated 10 million ancient manuscripts. These span subjects like philosophy, science, medicine, literature, Vedic rituals, mathematics, astrology, vāstu, Sanskriti, and Indian arts and darśana — often in multiple scripts and languages and housed in institutions like temples, mathas, monasteries, Jaina Bhandāras, archives, libraries, and private collections, according to the Brochure for the event.
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