The manuscripts are not just relics of the past but also a guiding light for the future. The remarks were made at a global conference on Saturday while adopting the New Delhi Declaration to bolster efforts to preserve, digitise, and disseminate knowledge embedded in the manuscripts.
Saturday was the closing day of the three-day 'Gyan Bharatam' conference on India's manuscript heritage, hosted at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, when the declaration was adopted.
The New Delhi Declaration resolved that manuscripts are "the living memory of a nation, and foundation of its civilisational identity". India has one of the richest collections of ancient manuscripts in the world, with nearly 10 million texts that hold the country's traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.
The declaration adopted at the conference also resolved to "acquire and repatriate original manuscripts or secure their digital copies".
"We resolve to preserve, digitise and disseminate this vast treasure. We firmly believe manuscripts are not merely relics of the past, but a guiding light for the future," it said. The declaration also resolved to "awaken people and make the Gyan Bharatam mission a 'jan aandolan'.
Under the Ministry of Culture, the Central government launched the Gyan Bharatam Mission, which aims to survey, document, conserve, digitise, and make accessible more than one crore manuscripts located at academic institutions, museums, libraries, and private collections across India.
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