National seminar on editing and cataloging 8,500 ancient manuscripts on science and technology
By Esther Esha
Bangalore, March 21, 2019
The Sanskriti Foundation announced today in a press conference that it is organizing a three-day National Seminar on Cataloguing, Editing, and Publication of Ancient Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology.
From March 26 to 28, the event will take place at the Multi-vision theatre ISKCON, of Rajajinagar in Bangalore, and will be held with the support of the National Mission of Manuscripts in New Delhi.
The foundation has prepared an e-catalogue of about 8,500 manuscripts that deal with 40 different domains of science and technology. There are around three million manuscripts in total, with more than 100,000 related to domains like physical science, metallurgy, alchemy, and aeronautics.
These are available in various libraries, oriental research institutes and private collections all over India.
Several unbiased scientists, technologists, and scholars opine that there is information that can create indigenous, cost-effective, sustainable, and eco-friendly technology that would provide solutions to several problems that society is facing today.
A Lakshmithathaachar is a professor fromBangalore, said “the literature experts cannot transcribe as they will not know the terms used in science. I have been in this profession for 40 years now.”
He added that ancient palm-leaf manuscripts have been written in various exotic scripts like Grantha, Sharada, Nandinagari, Tigalari, and Brahmi. The concepts mentioned in those manuscripts should be applied in the modern context.
Sharan, an art and literature student in Bangalore, says “ unfortunately the government has not taken the interest of bringing out all these values to the modern society. I want to learn various techniques that are in the manuscripts to understand the essence of the old literature in a better way “.
The manuscripts can be revived when there is active involvement of manuscriptologists, script-specialists, language experts, who know both Sanskrit and science apart from the support of government and non-governmental organizations.
