The NMM was established in 2003 to document, preserve and digitize India’s diverse manuscripts through its 31 Manuscript Resource Centres (MRCs) across the country. India’s Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, produced these statistics during a question and answer session in the parliament.
The minister added that the digitization was being carried out on microfilms, which had several advantages, including ease of access. The NMM falls under the purview of the Indian government’s Ministry of Culture, and was established to setup a national manuscript resource which would enhance access, awareness and educational use. NMM also offers courses, workshops and fellowships on Manuscriptology and Paleography.
Several rare manuscripts such as the Rigvedasamhita, a collection of the Rig Veda, the Natyashastra, the oldest treatise on Indian dance and music, and the Shunya Sampadane, which form the basis for the idea of the Akashic records, have been digitized and are a part of the collection. Collections from the NMM, such as the Rig Veda, the Shaivagama or Shaiva manuscripts of Pondicherry, archives of the Dutch East India Company, and the Tamil Medical manuscript collection have been entered into the UNESCO “Memory of the World” Register.
The government is in the process of working out proposals to collaborate with other countries to enhance the digitization process. The mission has several challenges to cope with, including a meager budget of 4.5 crore INR or $750,000 U.S., and a very large number of transcripts in the country, estimated at 5 million. Some of the manuscripts also happen to be in languages that cannot be read. Several manuscripts are also in a poor and neglected condition, and there are few scholars who can study these manuscripts.
