Visva-Bharati Mahabharata manuscript added to UNESCO regional register

A 221-leaf palm-leaf manuscript of the Karna Parva of the Mahabharata, held at Visva-Bharati’s Lipika manuscript library in Santiniketan, has been included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register.

The manuscript is written in Sanskrit using the medieval Bengali script. It was copied by Harikrishna Sharma and is an old copy of the work, not the original author’s handwriting. It is one of three Indian manuscripts included in the regional register this year, alongside manuscripts of the Arthashastra and Rajatarangini.

Visva-Bharati preserves manuscripts of other Mahabharata sections as well as Bengali translations. Its collection is undergoing digitisation under the Gyan Bharatam project, with the Asiatic Society overseeing the work.

Notable Points

• Memory of the World regional register: The Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) maintains a regional register separate from UNESCO’s international Memory of the World Register.
• Visva-Bharati manuscript preservation: Rabindra Bhavana, founded at Visva-Bharati in July 1942, holds a major part of Tagore’s manuscripts, correspondence, paintings and sketches. Its facilities include a museum, archives, a library and a preservation unit.