NEW DELHI: Nearly 40 lakh rare and precious manuscripts in various languages from across states have been reported on Gyan Bharatam portal launched last year in September to digitize, preserve, and make accessible the country's vast collection of ancient historical records.
Contributed by state archives, universities, trusts and private collectors, these manuscripts range from fragile to well-preserved state and are now being systematically digitised and safeguarded.
To expand the initiative, the ministry of culture recently launched a three-month nationwide survey aimed at identifying, documenting and conserving manuscript heritage across the country. The exercise seeks to bring previously unrecorded collections into the fold while strengthening ongoing digitisation efforts.
The ministry on Tuesday reteriated its appeal urging individuals and institutions possessing manuscripts of cultural or historical importance to come forward and share details.
According to officials, more than 600 custodians of manuscripts have submitted their collection inscribed on various materials including copper plate, palm leaf, paper, and textile. Majority of them have come from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. There is no contribution from Tamil Nadu, Nagaland and Dadra Nagar and Haveli so far.
Abhay Jainn Garnthalaya (Bikaner), Shree Sanjay Sharma Museum and Research Institute (SSSMRI) from Jaipur, Shree Mathuradheesh Mandir (Kota), Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi, Visva-bharati (Central University in Kolkata), Telangana State Archives and Research Institute (Hyderabad) and Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra (Gandhinagar) are among significant contributors.
Abhay Jainn Granthalaya has handed over two lakh manuscripts while others have submitted one lakh documents.
Officials said that the submissions reflect a wide spectrum of physical conditions, with many texts requiring urgent conservation. A significant portion, however, has already been digitised, ensuring that valuable knowledge contained in these documents is protected from further deterioration and made accessible for future generations.
Gyan Bharatam was announced during the Union Budget 2025-26.
According to the ministry, more than eight lakh digitized manuscripts in different formats such as DVD, HDD, microfilms are available across the country. These digitized manuscripts are being reformatted as per Gyan Bharatam Standard Operating Procedures (SoP), out of these 1.29 lakh manuscripts are accessible to the public on the National Digital Repository (NDR).
As part of the three-month nationwide survey, various teams will identify manuscripts in institutions, private collections and with individual custodians. The exercise will begin at the district level. The manuscripts recorded during the survey will be geotagged to facilitate authorities plan their conservation, preservation and digitisation. The team will use a mobile application to record scripts.