Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) @ E-library of Indological texts planned
Precious manuscripts in Sanksrit and its related languages, Pali and the Prakrits, are soon to be preserved for posterity with the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) launching an e-library and commencing a major digitisation process of its treasure trove in Indology.Unperturbed by the tumult of Pune’s dramatically changing landscape, the Institute, named after legendary Indologist Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, was set up in 1917 and remains a fixture in the city’s histo-cultural fabric as a veritable researchers’ paradise.
BORI’s venerated walls house one of South Asia’s largest and most invaluable agglomerations of rare manuscripts.
“The move to digitise rare books began in earnest in September last year. The Institute has formed a three-member committee to examine its repository of 1.35 lakh books and 28,000 manuscripts,” said Shreenand Bapat, registrar and curator-in-charge, BORI.
Laborious process
While a Zeutschel high-resolution German scanner has been specially procured by the Institute at a cost of Rs. 15 lakh, the restoration promises to be a painstaking and laborious process that will continue for the better part of five years.
The scanning process, according to Mr. Bapat, poses particular challenges owing to the age of the manuscripts, some of which are more than a millennium old. “A team of four researchers — Professor Shrikant Bahulkar, Dr. Maitreyee Deshpande and their two assistants — are working on this project. Each day, around 4,000 pages of the manuscripts have to be digitised and passed on to an IT company in Mumbai specialising in digitisation,” Dr. Bapat said, adding that almost 12 lakh images of pages have to be digitised.
At present, about 12,000 extremely rare manuscripts and books have been scanned.
This treasure trove to be digitised was first deposited at Mumbai’s Elphinstone College, from whence it was moved to Pune’s Deccan College for better preservation facilities.
19-volumeMahabharata
The government collection was permanently housed in BORI in 1918 with Lord Willingdon [Major Freeman-Thomas], the then Governor of the Bombay Presidency and the first president of the Institute, authorising its transfer there. Among the notable publications that have emerged from this grand collection is a critical 19-volume edition of the Mahabharata , collated with copious critical material out of nearly 1,260 manuscripts.
Overcoming controversy
Apart from the ageing process, the manuscripts have also fallen prey to political bickering, most notoriously in 2004, when the Institute was prey to vandalism by the Sambhaji Brigade protesting against American scholar James Laine’s book on king Shivaji.
Several manuscripts were destroyed and Professor Bahulkar was manhandled allegedly for assisting Professor Laine’s research.
The move to build a digital collection has been mired in financial stress, and while baby steps were taken since 2011, the digitisation process gained momentum only recently after the Centre approved of a revised budget outlay for the same. In 2003, the National Mission for Manuscripts (NAMAMI) selected BORI as one of the 32 manuscripts resource and conservation centres across the country.
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming
Event | MANLIBNET 17th
Annual International Conference on 15-16 September 2017 at Jaipuria, Noida,
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