Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gyan Bharatam portal in New Delhi on Friday evening, marking a major step in India's efforts to preserve and digitise its vast manuscript heritage. The launch took place during the International Conference on Gyan Bharatam, a three-day event that began on Sept. 11.
The first-ever international conference on Indian manuscripts, organised by the Union Culture Ministry, will continue till Sept. 13. The theme of the conference is 'Reclaiming India's Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage'.
The Gyan Bharatam portal has been designed as a dedicated digital platform to speed up the digitisation, preservation and public access of India's ancient manuscripts. The initiative aims to give scholars, researchers and the public easier access to the country's traditional knowledge, while ensuring the long-term protection of fragile documents.
The International Conference on Gyan Bharatam has brought together leading scholars, conservationists, technologists and policy experts to explore ways to revitalise India's manuscript wealth and place it at the centre of a global knowledge dialogue.
The event also features an exhibition of rare manuscripts and scholarly presentations on subjects such as conservation methods, digitisation technologies, metadata standards, legal frameworks, cultural diplomacy and the deciphering of ancient scripts, according to the Culture Ministry.
Earlier this year, on World Sanskrit Day (Aug. 9), PM Modi highlighted the government's work to revive and popularise Sanskrit, during which he also referred to the 'Gyan Bharatam Mission'.
In a post on X, he wrote, “Over the last decade, our Government has undertaken many efforts to make Sanskrit popular. These include setting up Central Sanskrit Universities, Sanskrit Learning Centres, providing grants to Sanskrit scholars and the Gyan Bharatam Mission to digitise manuscripts. This has benefitted countless students and researchers.”
Over the last decade, our Government has undertaken many efforts to make Sanskrit popular. These include setting up Central Sanskrit Universities, Sanskrit Learning Centres, providing grants to Sanskrit scholars and the Gyan Bharatam Mission to digitise manuscripts. This has…
August 9, 2025About Gyan Bharatam Mission
The Gyan Bharatam Mission seeks to revive India's manuscript heritage by preserving, digitising and sharing ancient knowledge worldwide. It will identify, catalogue and conserve rare texts through Manuscript Resource and Conservation Centres, while large-scale digitisation using AI and Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) will feed into a National Digital Repository for global access.
Under the initiative, the government plans research, translation and publication of rare works, training of scholars in transcription and ancient scripts, and development of technology tools like mobile apps and secure cloud storage for manuscripts. It will also incentivise manuscript owners to share collections, build expert capacity through training and research, foster global collaborations for retrieval and standardisation, and integrate traditional wisdom into education.
The Manuscript Research Partner Programme will involve young scholars through exhibitions, digital labs and heritage museums.
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