National Workshop On Preservation Of Metal Manuscripts

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HinduThought, kalyan97 <kalyan97 wrote:

 

CHENNAI, INDIA, December 8, 2006: The total number of manuscripts in

the

country was at least 10 times the initial estimate of five million,

said

Neeraja Gopi from the National Mission for Manuscripts at the

Government

Museum on Monday morning. Around one million should be available

online

soon. Placards with a step-by-step guide to the preservation of metal

manuscripts, adorned the centenary exhibition hall for the national

workshop

on the topic that began the same day. Among the valuable ancient

metal

manuscripts on display was one of seven copper plates strung

together on a

ring with two Nandi bulls on it, recording the grant of lands to a

Siva

temple by Tappunatta Mumma Nayanar during the reign of Kulothunga

Chola in

1078 A.D. in Grantha and Tamil script.

 

The five-day workshop is being attended by experts, curators and

those

interested in the conservation of manuscripts from across the

country. The

museum established a laboratory in 1930 to study the preservation of

metal

icons, said V. Jeyaraj, Co-ordinator, Government Museum Manuscript

Conservation Centre. R. Kannan, Special Commissioner & Commissioner

of

Museums, said that failing to preserve and decipher manuscripts

could lead

to the loss of valuable knowledge in the classical languages of

Sanskrit and

Tamil, especially relating to the medical and physical sciences.

Manuscripts

of Siddha medicine, for instance, documented the medicinal use of

mercury.

The National Manuscript Mission was initiated in 2003 as a five-year

project

to survey, document, preserve and digitise manuscripts in the

country's

public and private repositories, said Ms. Gopi. It has succeeded in

documenting at least a fourth of available manuscripts on a variety

of media

including metal, cloth, ivory, papyrus and sanchipat through

manuscript

resource and conservation centers across the country. The Mission

has also

initiated manuscriptology courses in universities and research into

the

indigenous and traditional processes of preservation of manuscripts.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/08/stories/2006120815250200.htm

--

Dharma protects those who protect it

Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha

 

S. Kalyanaraman