Under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, National Manuscript Survey was launched across all States and Union Territories of the country to identify and document manuscript holdings, repositories and custodians representing diverse languages and scripts. However, any district-wise target was not set for the survey and physical registration of manuscripts under the Mission. During the survey, more than 1.19 crore manuscripts have been reported.

 Gyan Bharatam Web Portal uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) enabled technologies, including Large Language Script Models (LLSM), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), script recognition, semantic search and machine-assisted translation, to provide intelligent access to India’s manuscript heritage.

Gyan Mitram, the AI-powered knowledge interface of the Gyan Bharatam Web Portal uses LLSM, OCR, HTR, script recognition, semantic search and machine-assisted translation to enable intelligent interpretation, contextualization and exploration of manuscripts by integrating manuscript images, transcriptions and translations.

BharatiyaGPT, features “Manuscript-to-Conversational AI” on Gyan Bharatam Web Portal converting manuscript heritage into AI-ready, machine-readable knowledge and provides a multilingual and multimodal access, including text, audio and voice-based interaction through its “Talk to Manuscript” feature, thereby making India’s knowledge traditions more accessible to scholars, students, researchers and the public.

Pandulipi Darpan is an AI driven tool on Gyan Bharatam Web Portal that enables users to upload or select a digitized manuscript image and access AI-assisted script recognition, transliteration and translation.

Access to digitized copies of manuscript is facilitated in accordance with applicable laws and the rights of custodians and rights holders. Wherever legally permissible, manuscripts and associated metadata may be made available for public and scholarly research through the National Digital Repository, while sensitive, restricted or rights-protected materials may be subject to appropriate access conditions.

This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today

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M Annadurai