Berhampur: A four-member expert team from the National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), Hyderabad on Monday commenced digitising and cataloguing rare ayurveda and palm leaf manuscripts preserved in Berhampur University (BU).“It will take five to seven days to complete the work,” said Geetanjali Dash, vice-chancellor of BU. The team has been provided accommodation on the campus.
The university has over 2000 palm leaf manuscripts in its South Odisha Cultural Study Centre (SOCSC). Most of the manuscripts contain invaluable ayurvedic knowledge and remain unpublished. The palm leaf manuscripts have been collected by researchers from different individuals and organisations in southern Odisha, officials said.“With the help of NIIMH, we will digitise these fragile documents and preserve them. The experts will use advanced digitisation techniques,” the VC said.NIIMH, a peripheral unit of the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), has undertaken the digitisation work following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between CCRAS and the university on Jan 31 last year at Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), Bhubaneswar.The initiative forms part of a national mission to document and validate the country’s traditional knowledge system, sources said.After digitisation, the copies would be provided to the university. Similarly, a ‘Descriptive Catalogue of Ayurved Manuscripts of SOCSC, BU, Odisha’, will be prepared which would be helpful for researchers, sources said. Some selected manuscripts will undergo transcription and translation into modern language, integrating ancient and contemporary medical discourse, as per the MoU.“The partnership will not only safeguard the fragile palm leaf manuscripts, but also enhance the university’s stature as a global hub for cultural and medical heritage studies,” Dash said.
