UNESCO Recognises 307-Year-Old Mahabharata Manuscript Preserved At Visva-Bharati

A 307-year-old palm-leaf manuscript containing a portion of the Mahabharata, preserved at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, has been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, marking international recognition of India's rich documentary heritage.

The manuscript, comprising 221 folios, documents the Karna Parva, one of the 18 sections of the ancient Sanskrit epic traditionally attributed to sage Vyasa. It was transcribed by Haricharan Sharma.

A university spokesperson said on Tuesday that the recognition was expected to bring greater attention to the institution's extensive manuscript collection housed at its Lipika repository.

The UNESCO register identifies and safeguards documentary heritage of significant cultural, historical and scientific value across the Asia-Pacific region.

The spokesperson said Visva-Bharati had begun digitising thousands of rare manuscripts preserved at Lipika under the Centre's nationwide Gyan Bharatam Mission, with guidance from an expert team from the Asiatic Society.

The mission aims to protect India's manuscript heritage by documenting and making rare historical records accessible in digital formats.

The latest recognition is also expected to encourage further research into the historical and literary works preserved at the university, the spokesperson added.

Besides the newly recognised manuscript, Lipika houses manuscripts of other sections of the Mahabharata and a diverse collection of literary and scholarly works in Sanskrit, Bengali and four other languages.

Several other works preserved at the repository, including treatises on dramaturgy, have also received UNESCO recognition in the past.

The latest inclusion has renewed focus on Visva-Bharati's manuscript archives and their importance as repositories of India's literary, historical and cultural legacy.