The Indian government has launched a major initiative under the Gyan Bharatam Mission to preserve and digitise nearly 50 crore (500 million) pages of rare Indian manuscripts. This ambitious project, announced in July 2025, is set to become one of the world’s largest efforts to digitally archive and make accessible the vast repositories of ancient Indian wisdom.
The Gyan Bharatam Mission is a national endeavour aimed at cataloguing, conserving, and digitising India’s priceless manuscript collections, many of which date back centuries and span diverse languages, scripts, and subjects. The project will cover:
Ancient Texts: Vedic literature, Upanishads, Puranas, and classical works in Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Tamil, Persian, and other Indian languages.
Scientific and Medical Treatises: Rare manuscripts on Ayurveda, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, and other traditional sciences.
Literary and Philosophical Works: Texts on poetry, drama, philosophy, and religion, reflecting India’s pluralistic intellectual traditions.
Regional and Folk Manuscripts: Documents chronicling local histories, customs, and oral traditions.
Many of India’s rare manuscripts are at risk of deterioration due to age, environmental factors, and inadequate storage. Digitisation ensures their long-term preservation and protects them from physical decay, loss, or damage. By creating a digital archive, the initiative will make these invaluable resources accessible to scholars, students, and the public worldwide, breaking down barriers posed by geography and limited physical access.
Digitised manuscripts will fuel academic research in history, linguistics, science, and cultural studies. Advanced search and AI-driven analysis will open new avenues for interdisciplinary scholarship and innovation. Preserving and promoting India’s manuscript heritage strengthens national identity and fosters pride in the country’s contributions to world knowledge.
Manuscripts will be scanned using non-invasive, high-resolution imaging to capture even the most delicate scripts and illustrations.
Each manuscript will be meticulously catalogued with detailed metadata, including language, script, author, subject, and provenance.
Artificial intelligence will be used to transcribe, translate, and annotate manuscripts, making them searchable and user-friendly.
The initiative will involve partnerships with universities, libraries, museums, and private collectors across India and abroad.
Despite these challenges, the government has set an ambitious timeline, aiming to complete the digitisation of the first tranche of manuscripts within three years.
