A three-day awareness and training camp on manuscripts organised by the Department of Manuscripts, Kannada University, Hampi and Rashtrakavi Govinda Pai Research Centre, was inaugurated here on Wednesday.
Speaking after inaugurating the programme, scholar Keladi Gunda Jois, said, “It is necessary to have scientific research of manuscripts because prejudiced research has no value.”
Mr. Jois said that the Kannada University was the best centre for publishing catalogues on manuscripts. “This was because its Manuscripts Department also came up with a system of studying and researching manuscripts. The university could also get the help of the University Grants Commission (UGC) for his purpose,” he said.
It was necessary to publish catalogues not just for Sanskrit manuscripts, but also for Kannada manuscripts, he said.
“This would help in research of manuscripts. This could be taken under the Kannada Classical Language Project. Modern technology such as internet, digitalisation and microfilm could be used for the study of manuscripts,” Mr. Jois said.
It was the duty of both the government and the universities to be proactive in protecting and cataloguing manuscripts.
“The study of manuscripts is tough and requires a lot of time, resources and scholastic ability,” he said.
The Keladi Manuscript Resource Centre Museum is home to a large collection of paper and palm leaf manuscripts written in Kannada, Sanskrit and other languages. These manuscripts were on varied subjects, Mr. Jois said.
