Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote
Academy of Sanskrit Research
‘Academy of Sanskrit Research’, Melkote has thousands of palm leaf manuscripts of thousands of years old, thousands of other manuscripts with valuable information. The academy is taking the good care of all these and preserving the information in them.
Melkote in Karnataka is a place where the great Ramanaujacharya has moved. It is a place of many religious places. Another special feature of Melkote is the Academy of Sanskrit Research. Melkote is situated 51 kms away from Mysore and 133 kms distance from Bangalore. The influence of Sanskrit language is more in this place. Many ancient manuscripts and palm leaf manuscripts were there in Melkote. State Government of Karnataka has established Academy of Sanskrit Research at Melkote to preserve the manuscripts in the year 1977.
According to Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai there are nearly one lakh manuscripts and palm leaf manuscripts in south India. Of them 6,000 manuscripts and more than ten thousand palm leaf manuscripts are present in Melkote Academy of Sanskrit Research. Information related to thousands of years of history, culture, medicine, construction, mining, agriculture, Ayurvedam, astrology, Astronomy etc is present in these manuscripts. Some software companies in Bangalore also help in the maintenance of this academy along with the state government of Karnataka.
Mysore royal family has given thousands of ancient leaf palm manuscript present with them to the Academy of Sanskrit Research. People around Melkote also give the ancient manuscripts to this academy.
These manuscripts are cleaned in the Academy of Sanskrit Research with the peacock feathers that are dipped in the oil made with lemon grass. Snake skins are kept in the almirahs to protect the manuscripts from white ants and termites. Photography was used earlier to digitalize the manuscripts. Photos were taken with cameras and were stored in the computer. As this procedure was time consuming, big scanners are now used in place of cameras. Academy is working hard to convert the manuscripts in to 3-books and the library as e-library.
Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote is also running a Sanskrit school. There is a printing press here. E-books are printed in this press. A museum is also being run by the academy with ancient coins, statues, idols etc. Many Sanskrit lecturers are working here to translate the information in the manuscripts. The academy’s effort is to translate the matter without changing the information that is present in the manuscript.
Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote is a bridge between past and future. It is preserving ancient literature for the sake to future generations. The academy has published a book ‘Science and Technology through the Ages’. This book contains the science and scientific information in the ancient Sanskrit literature. Much valuable information from agriculture to Ayurveda and construction sector to technology is present in the book. ISRO has given a project to this academy to research about the information in ancient Sanskrit literature about formation of universe and secrets of universe.