National Workshops on Manuscriptology and Ancient Scripts
Summary
The article details two workshops on Manuscriptology and Paleography organized by the L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, a Manuscript Resource and Restoration Centre designated by the National Mission for Manuscripts. The first workshop, held from 24-27 December 2003, focused on surveys of manuscript collections, listing, and awareness campaigns. Inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Tapasvi Nandi, it featured 12 scholars and 53 participants, including college teachers and M.Phil and Ph.D. students from Gujarat. The valedictory session was addressed by the 99-year-old Padmashri Dr. K. K. Sambodi Shastri. The second workshop, sponsored by the National Mission for Manuscripts and held from 9-21 August 2004, aimed to create awareness about the cultural heritage contained in manuscripts and to teach ancient scripts including Devnagari, Brahmi, and Sharda. It was inaugurated by Shri A. U. Patel, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University, and Shri Dhirubhai Shah, with Dr. J. B. Shah, Director of the Institute, explaining the importance of manuscripts. The workshop was attended by 45 participants from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. The curriculum included survey and cataloguing, careful handling of fragile manuscripts, reading ancient scripts, editing, restoration, and reading rock-inscriptions. The article highlights the expertise of resource persons such as Dr. Ganjoo from Kashmir, who taught the Sharda script, and Prof. K. K. Thapliyal from Lucknow, who covered the Brahmi script in relation to Ashokan inscriptions. Other experts included Dr. Priti Pancholi, who taught Nagri and old Gujarati scripts, and Dr. M. L. Vadekar, who instructed on critical editing methods. The valedictory function was chaired by Dr. Dhirubhai Parikh and addressed by Dr. Sudha Gopalkrishnan, Director of the National Mission for Manuscripts, who emphasized the need to strengthen manuscript collection and cataloguing. The workshops received significant media coverage from Gujarati dailies like Gujarat Samachar, Divya Bhaskar, Jansatta, Sandesh, and Sambhav, as well as English dailies like the Times of India and Asian Age, and were telecast on Doordarshan. The L. D. Institute itself holds a collection of 75,000 manuscripts and has made progress in their search, cataloguing, and preservation.
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Conclusion
The national workshops on manuscriptology and ancient scripts, organized by the L. D. Institute of Indology, significantly advanced the study of India’s cultural heritage. By training participants from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra in the reading and cataloguing of ancient scripts like Brahmi, Sharda, and Prachin Nagri, the workshops provided essential skills for the systematic preservation of unexplored knowledge. The initiative successfully created widespread awareness about the critical need to survey, document, and conserve fragile manuscripts held in both public and private collections. Furthermore, the extensive media coverage and expert-led instruction underscored the national importance of these efforts. Ultimately, the workshops equipped a new generation of scholars and teachers with the tools to protect and unlock the vast historical and philosophical wealth contained within India’s manuscript heritage.