Cambridge reveals oldest Sanskrit manuscript on film
The University of Cambridge has focused on what is believed to be the oldest illustrated Sanskrit manuscript highlighting stages in the life of Gautama Buddha as part of its India Unboxed series.
The University of Cambridge has focused on
what is considered the oldest dated and illustrated Sanskrit manuscript that
highlights various stages in the life of Gautama Buddha as part of its
year-long India Unboxed series to mark the UK-India Year of Culture 2017.
The ancient university (founded in 1209) has
a large number of India-related objects collected over the centuries in
its eight museums, Botanic Garden, Centre for South Asian Studies, and the
University Library.
The Sanskrit manuscript is about 1,000 years
old and has one of the most famous titles in world literature — the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā or The Perfection of Wisdom In 8,000 Lines.
It offers a path to enlightenment and signifies the formal introduction to
Buddhist thought.
The illustrated manuscript features events
from Buddha’s life - his birth, his first teaching, his death, the attack by an
elephant, a monkey giving him honey, and his return to Sāmkāśya after teaching
his mother in heaven.
The manuscript is revealed in a short film,
part of a series of films based on singular objects in the university’s
collection.
Other films will focus on topics such as why
a tin of fine Indian and Ceylon tea was packed for an Antarctic expedition at
the turn of the 20th century, and how a brass transit instrument was used in
the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India.
Malavika Anderson, cultural programmer for
the University of Cambridge Museums, said of the Sanskrit manuscript, “The many
beautiful and perfectly preserved images are tiny but incredibly complex at the
same time. Given that the nature of the medium, the palm leaf, places many
restrictions on what an artist can do, the variety and detail in the
illustrations of these manuscripts is astonishing.
“To this day, 1,000 years on, the palm leaf
manuscripts are still helping to further research on the intellectual
traditions, religious cults, literature and political ideas of South Asia.”
The India Unboxed programme seeks to
creatively unpick the tangled relationships of the two countries, fusing
historical context with contemporary perspectives, and highlighting artworks,
artefacts, orchids and scientific instruments that have made their way to
Cambridge over 800 years.
Source | Hindustan Times | 15 June 2017
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming
Event | MANLIBNET 17th
Annual International Conference on 15-16 September 2017 at Jaipuria, Noida,
India
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