Illustrated Manuscripts

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Literature in Sanskrit, the classical language of India, represents a continuous cultural tradition from the time of the Vedas in the second millennium BCE. Until the present, the Handwritten Sanskrit manuscripts numbering approximately 5,000 from various provinces were acquired by the National Museum (New Delhi) after independence and have been well preserved in their original form in the Manuscript Department of the National Museum (New Delhi). Most of the manuscripts are plain and are without any decoration. But there are some compositions which are illustrated in line and colour. These manuscripts, particularly the dated ones, with rich illuminations and charming illustrations, represent the different schools of the miniature paintings and they also elaborate the Indian history with complete authenticity. This collection, gathered over the years, owes its assemblage mainly to the perennial acquisitions through the Art Purchase Committee of the National Museum (New Delhi).

These rare illustrious Sanskrit records have also been documented technologically through scanning, photography, videography and the data entered in the meta-data form so as to help the academicians in further the understanding of the legacy of illustrated Sanskrit manuscripts. The collection of illustrated Sanskrit manuscripts is written in different scripts ranging from Nāgarī, Devanāgarī, Śāradā, Oriya, Bengali and Gurmukhī. Rajasthani, Bundeli, Awadhi, Maithili and Braj dialect texts and other regional literary texts also find their place in the collections. The collection of illustrated Sanskrit manuscripts display the Holy Scriptures covering different faiths such as Vedic, Purāṇic, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh spanning from 10th c. CE to 20th c. CE. Apart from covering themes such as religion & different sects, historical, Śaivism, Vaiṣṇavism, Jyotiḥśāstra, Vāstuśāstra, Nāṭyaśāstra, Darshanśāstra are also covered in these Sanskrit manuscripts which are an invaluable sources of information on the social, cultural, political and economic domain of the ancient past.

The present Virtual Gallery features illustrated manuscripts written in different languages and also the Sanskrit manuscripts that were written on materials such as copper plate, palm-leaf, handmade paper, bark and wood carrier. When the oral transmission of knowledge began to experience the threat of discontinuity, the palm-leaf manuscripts have revolutionised the sphere of preserving oral traditions of several millennia. The National Museum (New Delhi) has a very fine and representative collection of chitra-pothi’s (palm-leaf manuscripts of Orissa). Illustrations on chitra-pothi show both palm-leaf and paper. The extremely rich colourful folios of Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata and Devī Māhātmya of different schools and styles also find their place here apart from the illustrated Rasamanajri, Saundarya Laharī, Gīta Govinda, Madhumālatī, and Rāgamāla series and other illustrated Sanskrit manuscripts are part of the National Museum, New Delhi (Manuscript collections). The historicity of the palm-leaf manuscript dates back to the early centuries of the Christian era. The facility extended to texts, commentaries, manuals and literature during the medieval period. This tradition influenced the domain of writing till the introduction of the handmade paper and printing press in India. That both palm-leaf and paper were used for writing even in the 18th and 19th centuries is evident from literary references of this period. National Museum (New Delhi) can rightly boast of having a rich treasure of manuscripts distributed over a variety of subjects which embrace different branches of learning like- jyōtisya, smṛiti, Kāvya, Kośa, Purāṇa etc.

Illustrated Manuscripts Hindi

Project Head

Shri Raghvendra Singh

Secretary, Ministry of Culture & CEO-DMCS

Shri Subrata Nath

Additional Director General, National Museum, New Delhi

Curatorial Team

Khatibur Rahman

Yogesh Kumar Sharma

Dr.Rajesh Jha

Special Thanks

Komal Pande

Dr.Naqi Abbas

Photography:

Shri. Rakesh Kumar

Photographer

Shri. Suresh Kumar

Photographer

Shri. Balbir Tamta

Photographer

Smt. Suchsmita Giri

Photographer

Office Assistance:

Shri Atul Awasthi

Shri Neeraj Kumar

Development Team: Varaha Tech Labs

Hemkant Tripathi

Technical Director

Hitesh Kumar

Project Director

P.N. Swathi

VP Operations

Divya Narain

Project Manager

Himanshu Thareja

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Apurva Thakur

Production Manager

Design Team: Varaha Tech Labs

Manish Pardasaney

Creative Head

Mohit Kattar

Senior 3D Artist

Umme Abiha

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Akash Mishra

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Tangio Brand Solutions

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