The proposed digitisation of manuscripts at the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) in Mysuru has gained traction with the University of Mysore taking fresh initiatives in this regard.
The varsity entered into an MoU with Mythic Society, Bengaluru on February 18. The outcome will lead to digitisation of manuscripts in which a slice of the intellectual heritage of ancient and medieval India are preserved by way of literary works and treatise on various subjects.
The ORI is a repository of about 70,000 manuscripts apart from 41,000 rare printed and other type of manuscripts. The only and fully extant volume of Kautilya’s Arthashastra was discovered at ORI in 1905 by scholar Rudrapatna Shamashastry who published it in 1909. Till then, its existence was known only by references in other ancient works. Arthashastra throws light on the polity and statecraft in ancient India.
