Archive Event

  • Manuscript In New Direction (MIND-2019)

    Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL), Visva-Bharati, organised a 3-day National Seminar on MANUSCRIPT IN NEW DIRECTION (MIND-2019): LANGUAGES AND CULTURE In Collaboration with NATIONAL MISSION for MANUSCRIPT STUDIES (NMM), DELHI during 26th-28th March, 2019 at Bhasha-Bhavana Building, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. This seminar aims to inform and introduce the role of oral traditions and manuscripts to preserve marginal linguistic and cultural communities of India with the focus on different models of digital documentation of manuscripts and its challenges. Experts and Scholars across the country from different disciplines have participated and expressed their views in this seminar on the role of Manuscripts to save the ethnic linguistic and cultural legacy of India. The audience including the scholars and faculty-members from different academic departments of Visva-Bharati and other universities in West Bengal have participated and expressed their views in this 3-days seminar.
    Prof. Suniti Kumar Pathak, eminent Indologist inaugurated the seminar and Prof. Siddharth Wakankar, noted scholar in manuscript study delivered the key-note address. Inaugural session was presided by Prof. Abhijit Sen, Principal, Bhasha-Bhavana. In their enlightening lecture they brought up different aspects of Manuscript studies and the role of manuscripts to preserve languages and culture. The audience witnessed many intensifying lectures on various themes of the seminar by noted scholars across the country in the other sessions. The scholars also discussed their views on whether definition of manuscripts should include the ‘oral narratives’ and ‘memory’ or not. Scholars shared their views on how through documentation and manuscripting, we can save those languages, cultures and ethnic community-identities as well, which are endangered or are on the verge of extinction.


    In this three-day national seminar, 19 experts on this domain delivered their lecture and expressed their views on different aspects of manuscript studies. There were three special lectures, delivered by eminent scholars Prof. Alokananda Bandopadhyay, Dr. Nirmal Bhattacharya, Prof. Kalpika Mukhopadhyay in this seminar. In their lecture, they shared their thoughts on the knowledge domain, socio-cultural aspect and role of manuscripts and also the importance of digitalization of manuscripts to restore them.


    There was a cultural night, organised on the account of this seminar. NMM will soon publish a book including the scholastic articles presented in this seminar by the scholars.