KOCHI: Manuscripts, the treasure house of the vast knowledge documented by our ancestors, speak volumes about culture, lifestyle, science, arts and so many other aspects. The only block between us and this knowledge bank is the mystic language it uses. With an aim to unlock the hidden knowledge in the manuscripts, a fifteen-day workshop on manuscriptology and paleography has started at Hill Place. It is a joint venture of the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
“We have selected participants from research scholars, staff of the Archaeology department and people interested in this,” said C M Neelakantan, academic director of the workshop. The major part of the manuscript depository in India is concentrated in Kerala, Neelakantan said. From the seventh century onwards there was a flow of manuscripts from other states, including Kashmir , to Kerala. Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya too brought many invaluable manuscripts to Kerala during his journeys through the nation. “As this southernmost state was safe from frequent attacks by foreign invaders most of these manuscripts still remain intact,” he said.
The unlocking mechanism of manuscripts is a process with three phases, said V S Shukla, member of IGNCA, New Delhi.
“First we have to find the sources of manuscripts which are kept in many libraries and colleges. The next step is to find the scripts used in these manuscripts. Till date we have spotted myriad scripts in Malayalam like vattezhuthu, kolezhuthu, sarada lipi, and grandaacharam,” he said. However in North India most manuscripts are written in Devanagari script.
“A detailed study of manuscripts actually unfolds the history of documentation and it is quite interesting to note the techniques used by our forefathers to document information on copper plates and palm leaves,” Shukla said. This study also reveals the fast and fabulous changes took place in the history of writing. “If our ancestors used sketches and lines for documentation, later it assumed the style of writing which symbolises the cultural as well as aesthetic views of the society,” he added.
National Mission for Manuscripts has formed a thorough mechanism which helps us make a systematic study of the manuscripts obtained from ancient palaces and the persons who maintain these precious documents with great care. “After collecting the manuscripts we disseminate them among scholars of respective fields to sort out the kind of inscriptions used in these manuscripts,” Shukla explained the first step in transforming the mystic script into a readable version. “Then comes the editing of these scripts and in the final stage we publish the simplest versions of them. Most reflect the culture, tradition, art and literary heritage of India,” he added.
A miniature work style of NMM is included in the workshop. After giving adequate training in various steps involved in the transformation of manuscripts into simple but detailed versions, the participants will apply this professional style on two selected works, Dhravya Guna Shatha Shloka (in nagari script) and Ramasthavam.
The participants analyse these two works in detail and after the editing they will be published.
The main hindrance faced by NMM is reluctance custodians of manuscripts to hand them over for detailed study, Shukla pointed out. “Up to a certain extent we can convince most of them about retrieving the invaluable information hidden in the manuscripts preserved by ancient families across the nation.
After completing the conversion process the original text, treated with scientific preservatives, will be returned to the custodians,” Shukla said.
Besides publishing most of the manuscripts unearthed from various states, NMM also digitalises some invaluable Devanagari texts written on copper plates and palm leaves enabling research scholars to know more about the history of writing. By cleverly incorporating the modern technology with the centuries-old inscriptions which are the authentic documents upholding the rich scientific as well as literary heritage of India, NMM also plans to share the immense knowledge hidden in manuscripts with experts from other nations.
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