NEW DELHI: International Ram Katha Museum (IRKM) in Ayodhya is set to acquire three rare palm-leaf manuscripts of Ramayana selected by the expert committee set up for the purpose. Two of them are copies of Ramcharitmanas, which are around 250-280 years old while the third scripture is around 200 years-old. The committee will physically examine the scripts after which the texts will be formally be taken over in a function likely to be held on May 29 on the premises of Ram Temple.
The committee comprises two domain experts, representatives of the culture ministry and National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) with the director of IRKM Sanjib Kumar Singh as its convener.
The development is part of the efforts initiated by the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library (PMML), under the ministry of culture, to create a National Repository of Ramayana Manuscripts (NRRM), aimed at preserving rare and ancient versions of the scripture from across India.
In March, it had invited institutions, scholars, individuals, religious bodies, universities, libraries and private collectors to donate or offer rare manuscripts of the Ramayana and related texts for the proposed repository. Selected rare manuscripts will be showcased in Ram Temple and IRKM.
In two months, at least 85 individuals and institutions have reached out to the committee to offer their possessions.
Sources privy to the development said the museum had planned a function—“Matra Shakti Samman Samaroh” to celebrate the women power in Ram Temple on May 29 in which the donors may also be invited for formal handover of the manuscripts.
“Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel and Sadhvi Ritambhara have been invited for Matra Shakti Samman Samaroh proposed on May 29. The proposal is also to call owners or holders of those three selected manuscripts, on the occasion, to take their possession,” said sources.
With the initiative, the PMML seeks to preserve and document the vast manuscript tradition associated with the Ramayana and its regional versions from across India.
The PMML is accepting manuscripts composed in Sanskrit, other Indian languages and also written in traditional Indian scripts.
Formal handover likely at a ceremony at the temple
Sources privy to the development said the museum had planned a function—“Matra Shakti Samman Samaroh” to celebrate the women power in Ram Temple on May 29 in which the donors may also be invited for formal handover of the manuscripts.