Scripting a new language
RANA SIDDIQUI
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A scholastic trinity has prepared the Jain Manuscript Catalogue which was recently launched in New Delhi.
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PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN
PRESERVE IT Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiling the Jain Manuscript Catalogue in
On the 2006th birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira, the Jain community in India and Britain showed solidarity when the Jain Manuscript Catalogue documenting the British Library collection in London was launched in India. The work, facilitated by the Institute of Jainlogy, was launched by the Prime Minister at Vigyan Bhavan this past week. The Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Ambika Soni, presided, while Sir Michael Arthur, British High Commissioner to India, was also present along with those who compiled the catalogue from original sources. The PM declared a grant of Rs.200 crore had been sanctioned by the Government to "further this scholastic work".
Interestingly that the catalogue, which received its current shape after a labour of four years, wasn't compiled only from India. It united Paris-based Professor Nalini Balbir, who is also the chief editor of the Catalogue, along with Jain scholar Tanubhai Sheth from Ahmedabad and Chandra Tripathi who restored the scripts from various Jain temples across India, especially in Bikaner, Pune, Surat, Karnataka, which are valuable depositories.
Access to the past
These papers, Professor Balbir says, give access to the social network of the past. The catalogue contains some 1100 manuscripts in three volumes and a CD of over 150 images with an interactive version. It is spread over a period ranging from the 13th to the 20th Century. The British Government fully supported the cause. It all happened in 1992 when representatives from IOJ visited the British Library. "They sought our help to modify the work and we found it binding on us to give them every help available as it is Britain's commitment to preserve Indian civilisation. If this task hadn't been done, it would have been an intellectual death of a relationship between India and Britain," said Sir Arthur.
The Prime Minister in his speech minced no words saying Indian domestic efforts to preserve this legacy were far from adequate and help from the British Government, libraries came in handy. "We would be failing in our duty to posterity if we didn't do it," he said.
"It wasn't easy to complete and collect this manuscript. Firstly, there were not many scholars who could decipher the manuscript, identify the text, and make out if these were original. It was more difficult to find the old dates. I have been working on it for 25 years now. My experience came in handy in finding out the authentic dates. It was a team work of more than 20 people across India," said Professor Balbir. The manuscript will be found in certain libraries in Indian universities, the names of which are yet to be decided.
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