In April 2025, the manuscripts of Shrimad Bhagvad Gita and Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra have been included to Paris (France)-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s Memory of the World (MoW) Register, a global initiative that preserves documentary heritage of outstanding value. With this, the total number of inscriptions from India now stands at 14.
- Both these newly inducted manuscripts are preserved by Pune (Maharashtra)-based Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI).
- This year, UNESCO has included 74 new documentary heritage collections from 72 countries and 4 international organisations to its MoW register. With these new entries, the total number of inscribed collections now stands 570.
- These entries cover topics like: scientific revolution, women’s contribution to history and key milestones of multilateralism.
About Shrimad Bhagavad Gita:
i.It is a sacred Sanskrit text, traditionally attributed to sage Vyasa. It comprises 700 verses in 18 chapters, embedded in the 6th book (Bhishma Parva) of the longest epic poem ‘Mahabharata’.
ii.It takes the form of a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra (now in Haryana), forming a part of epic Mahabharata.
iii.It is a central text in continuous, cumulative ancient intellectual Indian tradition, exploring various thought movements such as Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and Charvaka.
About Natyashastra:
i.The Natyashastra, attributed to sage Bharata Muni. It is an ancient Sanskrit text comprising 36,000 versus.
ii.It is considered as a foundational text on performing arts and includes a set of rules that define (drama), abhinaya (performance), rasa (aesthetic experience), bhava (emotion), sangita (music).
Points to Note:
i.So far, MoW Register consists of 13 submissions by India, which includes two joint submissions.
ii.The 1st Indian text to be included in UNESCO MoW register was Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection (1997).
iii.Other texts/inscriptions included in the list were: Saiva manuscripts (2005), Rigveda (2007), Abhinavagupta (2023), among others.
About Memory of the World Programme:
i.It was launched in 1992 by UNESCO, with the primary objective of preservation of the most significant documentary heritage from around the world and making it universally accessible.
ii.Under the MoW Programme, a compendium of documents was created which includes: manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, and library archive holdings, which are of world importance and universal value.
iii.MoW Register was formally started in 1997 and since then it has been biennially updated except between 2017 and 2023.
About United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO):
Director-General (DG)- Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters– Paris, France
Established– 1945
