What happened?
India will host a major international conference on its manuscript heritage from September 11–13 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the Ministry of Culture announced on July 10, 2025, Titled “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage,” the event will mark the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Around 500 delegates, including 75 scholars and heritage experts from India and abroad, are expected to attend. The focus will be on India’s vast repository of over 10 million manuscripts across disciplines like science, philosophy, medicine, and the arts.
Why it matters to India
The conference underscores India’s push to revive and globalise its traditional knowledge systems. By addressing themes like conservation, digitisation, AI in archiving, and ethical custodianship, the event seeks to integrate ancient wisdom into modern curricula and research. The conference will culminate in the New Delhi Declaration on Manuscript Heritage and form expert working groups for manuscript preservation and translation. The launch of the Manuscript Research Partner (MRP) programme will also foster engagement with young scholars, ensuring that this intangible heritage is preserved and passed on through innovation and education.