Preserving Heritage: New Delhi Declaration Lights the Path for Manuscripts

The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the 'Gyan Bharatam' conference, emphasizes the preservation, digitization, and dissemination of India's vast collection of manuscripts. Highlighting them as a foundational element of cultural identity, the initiative aims to conserve over one crore manuscripts, making it a public movement.

At a global conference held on Saturday, the New Delhi Declaration was adopted to enhance efforts in preserving, digitizing, and disseminating the richness embedded in manuscripts. Far from being simply ancient relics, these texts are viewed as guiding lights for the future.

The three-day 'Gyan Bharatam' conference, held at Vigyan Bhawan, culminated with the declaration's adoption. It highlights India's rich manuscript heritage, comprising nearly 10 million texts that embody traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.

The Gyan Bharatam Mission, spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture, aims to document, conserve, and make accessible over one crore manuscripts located across India. The declaration exhorts people to transform this mission into a 'jan aandolan', a people's movement.

(With inputs from agencies.)