Gyan Bharatam Mission

‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’ for manuscripts announced in the Union Budget 2025-26

  • Purpose – To undertake the survey, documentation and conservation of manuscript heritage lying with academic institutions, museums, libraries, etc.
  • Budget – Allocation for National Manuscripts Mission (NMM) has been hiked from Rs. 3.5 crore to Rs.60 crore.
  • Launched in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture.
  • Implementing Bodies – Currently a part of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
    • It is to be placed under a new body, likely to be named the National Manuscripts Authority
    • This will be an autonomous entity under the Ministry of Culture
  • Objectives – Conserving manuscripts and disseminating the knowledge contained in them.
  • Scope and Collection – India has an estimated 5 million manuscripts, with 70% in Sanskrit.
  • Handwritten compositions on materials like paper, bark, cloth, metal, or palm leafat least 75 years old.
  • Exclusions – Lithographs and printed volumes are not considered manuscripts.
  • Distinction from Historical Records – Manuscripts contain knowledge content, unlike historical records which document events.
  • Historical significance –
    • Nawab of Awadh presented an illuminated manuscript of the Padshahnama to King George III of England in the 18th century.
    • Hiuen Tsang – 7th century Chinese traveller took many manuscripts back to China.
    • British scholars like William Jones, Colin Mackenzie, and HT Colebrooke contributed to the study and preservation of Indian manuscripts.
    • Early cataloguing efforts began in 1803 with HT Colebrooke, who served as the President of Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Source:  TH


Previous Year Question

Who among the following Mughal Emperors shifted emphasis from illustrated manuscripts to the album and individual portraits?

[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2019 Prelims]

(a) Humayun
(b) Akbar
(c) Jahangir
(d) Shah Jahan

Answer: (c)


Practice Question

The Gyan Bharatam Mission, recently in the news, is related to:

 
 
 
 

Question 1 of 1

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