Preserving the Manuscript Heritage for Posterity: An Evaluative Examination of Manuscript Conservation Efforts in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The geo-cultural landmass of the Indian subcontinent was the fountainhead of an illustrious civilization that held sway over greater part of the world economically, culturally and intellectually for well over two millennia. This great civilization of the ancient world produced enormous literature on virtually every subject under the sun which was enshrined in manuscripts and transmitted to generations after generations. However, owing subjugation of people of this region by invading cultures for several centuries as well as ushering and transitioning into the new world, the local populace of this region lost interest in preserving their cultural heritage and so, the manuscript wealth in these countries took a bad hit. Several hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were lost to the pilferage and arson of the invading forces as well as ravages of time in the last couple of centuries. Of late, thankfully, there is a renaissance and ‘waking up’ in these countries about their ‘forgotten heritage’ and the governments, institutions and individuals are taking renewed interest in the preservation of their cultural heritage. The present paper describes a first of its kind research about the conservation activities of the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), a government of India initiative and its partner centres in the Indian state of Maharashtra. This study may be replicated to know the current state of affairs of manuscripts in other parts of the world as well.