National Mission for Manuscripts

India has a vast trove of ancient manuscripts. These are valuable objects that help in the study of our past, and also give insights into ancient and medieval cultures of India. The National Mission of Manuscripts (NMM) is important for the preservation of these manuscripts. In this article, you will find all the relevant information about NMM for the IAS exam.

What is the National Mission for Manuscripts?

The National Mission of Manuscripts (NMM) was established to unearth and preserve India’s vast wealth of manuscripts.

• The NMM was established in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
• According to some estimates, there are about ten million manuscripts in India, probably the largest collection in the world.
• These manuscripts include a wide variety of themes, languages, scripts, textures and aesthetics, illuminations, calligraphies, and illustrations.
• The chief mandate of the mission is to identify, collect, document, preserve and conserve the manuscripts from all over India and make it accessible to people.
• Many manuscripts are in a poorly preserved state in the country and stand the risk of being lost forever. 

National Mission for Manuscripts Significance

Manuscripts are important since they provide a lot of information which are essential for the study of history, culture and languages of the past of a region or country.

• Manuscripts constitute the memory of a country’s history, thought and heritage.
• Many valuable manuscripts from India are now scattered all over the country and some abroad as well, with private collectors, in museums and other institutions, undocumented and often unattended.
• Manuscripts are an important part of the documentary heritage of India.
• They essentially capture the thoughts, experiences, achievements, and lessons learnt from history of the Indian people.
• In 2005, UNESCO awarded the status of the ‘Memory of the World’ to the Shaiva manuscripts in Pondicherry. The application for the award was given jointly by the French Institute of Pondicherry, Centre for Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Oriente (EFEO) and the National Mission for Manuscripts.
• The Rig Veda manuscripts from Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, were nominated for inscription in the “Memory of the World” Register 2007. 
• In the Memory of the World Register in 1997, UNESCO had nominated the I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection.

Challenges faced by the NMM

• There are a huge number of manuscripts in various languages and scripts, for many of which there are no experts who can read and understand the contents.
• The manuscripts are scattered across museums, homes, religious institutions, educational institutes, etc.
• Many manuscripts are in poor state (fungus ridden, insect ridden, fading, brittle, etc.) and have been neglected for decades.
• Scholars who are knowledgeable about these manuscripts and can read them are fast disappearing. Young scholars of today find themselves incapable of comprehending the manuscripts’ contents.

National Mission for Manuscripts Objectives

The objectives of the NMM are listed below.

1. Locating manuscripts via national level surveys and post-survey activities.
2. Documenting every manuscript and manuscript repository, for a National Electronic Database.
3. Conserving manuscripts through both traditional and modern methods of conservation. Also, training manuscript conservators.
4. Training the next generation of scholars in various aspects of manuscript studies such as script, language, critical editing, cataloguing and conserving.
5. Boosting access to manuscripts through digitisation of the rarest and the most endangered pieces.
6. Promoting access to manuscripts through publication of critical editions of unpublished manuscripts and catalogues.
7. Enabling public engagement with manuscripts through seminars, lectures, publications, etc.

Kriti Sampada

One of the biggest projects of the NMM is the creation of a national database of all Indian manuscripts. This National Database of Manuscripts is known as the ‘Kriti Sampada’. It is available electronically through the website of the NMM.

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