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Deccan Herald - Palm Leaf Tells The Past
5th April 1999 Ramraj Ind / TRADEnet.India @giasmd01.vsnl.net.in
WHERE PALM LEAF TELLS THE PAST The Deccan Herald Thursday, March 18, 1999 The Oriental Research Library of Mysore has some very rare manuscripts, dating back to the 11th century. But the condition of the building that houses the library might cause serious harm to the precious manuscripts, warns SHIVARANJINI THE town of Mysore -- which still retains some old-world charm with its majestic, old buildings -- has several educational institutions around Crawford Hall. Among them is the Oriental Research Library (ORI) building, situated in Gordan Park. The building has an impressive Roman-style architecture. This building, which was earlier called Jubilee Hall, was the long- cherished dream of Chamaraja Wodeyar. The king, on his visit to Germany, had seen a building similar to this and wanted to have a similar one in Mysore, the State Capital. The building was built in 1887, which incidentally coincided with the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria`s rule. The building was therefore named Jubilee Hall. B Lewis Rice, the famous epigraphist, had a rare and unique collection of manuscripts, books and so on. He was looking for a hall to preserve them and hence approached His Highness for the Jubilee Hall. The Maharaja was impressed by his collection and as a token of encouragement and appreciation, offered the hall to exhibit his collection. The place gradually acquired the name Oriental Library. Later, over a period of time, the library became part of the University of Mysore. It is today commonly known as Oriental Research Library (ORI). With a collection of more than 33,000 manuscripts in Sanskrit, this library is considered one of the best libraries related to Oriental research. Earlier, the library had Kannada and Persian manuscripts too, which were later transferred to the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies and the Arabic College, respectively, for better restoration and research work. The manuscripts available today in the library deal with various disciplines like astronomy, astrology, botany, mathematics and other applied sciences. The manuscripts, on palm-leaves and paper, belong to 11th Century and later periods. Many of the palm-leaf manuscripts were found in the southern region of the country. Going through the manuscript is a rich experience, since it gives a fairly good picture of the sophistication achieved in various fields. A library of English and Sanskrit books is also housed at the institute. A lot of research work is done at the institute to restore the works. The manuscripts are read and preserved through the fumigation process and other advanced techniques. Scientific advances have helped the institute to restore old and rare manuscripts through microfilming. It was with the help of the Ford Foundation that the microfilming unit, in its own laboratory, was set up. The lab also doubles up as a practicals lab for Sanskrit post-graduate students and scholars of manuscriptology. The institute has 11 scholars, who are engaged in translating the manuscripts into English. H V Nagraj Rao, a research scholar at the institute for more than two decades, says that a lot of creativity and imagination is needed to read the manuscripts because they are very old and at times illegible. The scholars collect material during their annual tours and field studies from temples, mathas and such other religious institutions. They sometimes get manuscripts in the houses of purohits and vidwans. Rarely, even old village homes prove a rich source. Some old and rare works preserved in the library have been published. The institute has to its credit more than 182 publications, printed at Mysore University Press. Among the interesting books is Sritattvanidhi Shaktinidi, written by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, with colourful illustrations. The Oriental Research Institute, in fact, acquired international fame after the publication of Kautilya`s Arthashastra, written by Chanakya in Mauryan period (2 Century BC). But this more than a century-old heritage building, which houses invaluable manuscripts, has been neglected for years. The building leaks at several places and moisture is obviously the greatest enemy of manuscript. The present director of the institute, Dr K V Ramesh, hopes to revive the institute through modernisation to make it on par with the oriental research institute at Pune, Banares and other places. ''This institute is a treasure of Mysore University and needs to be preserved for posterity,`` he says. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) at Delhi will shortly conduct workshops to restore valuble manuscripts in different libraries throughout the country. This effort, hopefully, would help the Oriental Research Library of Mysore too. ===================================================== Your Trading Partner In India ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| RAMRAJ INDUSTRIES / TRADEnet.India ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Please visit our url : http://www.eckorea.net/ramraj & http://www.Zyworld.com/TRADEnetIndia and post your offers at our message board or mailto:[email protected] - ICQ : 13248150 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
