SYLLABUS
GS-1: Indian culture – the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Context:
The Union Ministry of Culture has organised the first-ever Gyan Bharatam International Conference from 11–13 September 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Bharatam International Conference
- Theme of the conference was “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage.”
- It aims to revive, globalise, and integrate India’s manuscript heritage into contemporary education, research, and cultural discourse.
- This is a platform to exchange ideas, share best practices, and strengthen collaborations on manuscript preservation and digitisation.
- The Prime Minister of India launched the ‘Gyan Bharatam Portal’ which aims to digitise India’s vast manuscript heritage, enhancing accessibility and preserving cultural knowledge.
- The Conference serves as the first international platform to bring together stakeholders from across the country to deliberate, collaborate, and chart a comprehensive roadmap for the preservation and digitisation of India’s manuscript legacy.
- The Prime Minister highlighted that India has the world’s largest collection of around one crore manuscripts, which are a matter of national pride.
Gyan Bharatam Mission
- It is a national initiative aimed at preserving, digitising, and disseminating India’s vast manuscript heritage by integrating traditional knowledge with modern technology for future generations.
- It has been approved as a Central Sector Scheme for the period 2024–31 with a total outlay of Rs. 482.85 crore. Over 44.07 lakh manuscripts already documented in the Kriti Sampada digital repository.
- It seeks to inspire scholarly innovation, strengthen civilisational pride, harness technological empowerment, and expand cultural diplomacy.
Key objectives include:
- Digitize and catalog over 1 crore manuscripts across the country.
- Establish a National Digital Repository of manuscripts.
- Integrate Artifice Intelligence and blockchain technologies for smart access, transcription, and provenance.
Key Provisions of Gyan Bharatam Mission
- Preservation and Digitisation: Identify, document, conserve, and restore manuscripts with large-scale AI-based digitisation and a National Digital Repository.
- Knowledge Revival: Promote research, critical editions, translations, and publications to integrate manuscript wisdom into global scholarship and education.
- Capacity and Technology: Develop expertise in palaeography, conservation, and digital tools, and create apps, secure repositories, and innovation platforms for efficient access.
- Engagement and Collaboration: Encourage custodians to share collections, engage youth and scholars, and foster global partnerships to make manuscripts active cultural and educational resources.
