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India's Literary Treasures Inscribed in the 2024 Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific Regional Register
Three significant works of Indian literature, Ramcharitmanas, Panchatantra, and Sahrdayāloka-Locana, have been inscribed in the 2024 Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) Regional Register. The announcement was made during the 10th General Meeting of MOWCAP, held from May 7 to 8, 2024, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Mongolia, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, and the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok.
MOWCAP was set up in 1998 and since then, this is the first time India has had three nominations inscribed in one cycle. With the inclusion of all the three items in 2024 MOWCAP Regional Register, it is evident that India is joining the global efforts towards the preservation and promotion of its rich traditional and cultural documentary heritage and practices which play a vital role in fostering cultural diversity and peace.
UNESCO congratulates India for the inscription of these three literary masterpieces in the MOWCAP register. It is a significant achievement in recognizing and safeguarding the diverse and artistic expressions that shape humanity. These literary treasures will enlighten and inspire generations to come.
The "Illustrated Manuscripts of Rāmacaritamānasa of Tulasīdāsa", also known as 'Ramcharitmanas' (literal meaning: lake of the deed of the Rama), was composed by Goswami Tulsidasa in Awadhi language in the 16th century and is considered as one of the greatest works of Hindu literature.
The Panchatantra, or "The 15th Century Manuscript of the Pañcatantra Fables" as inscribed, was written by Pandit Vishnu Sharma and is a compilation of animal fables in poetry and prose. "The Manuscript of the Sahṛdayāloka-Locana: Seminal Text of Indian Poetics", dating to the 9th and 10th centuries AD, incudes text and discussions related to poetics, dramaturgy and the theatrical insights in.
The Ramcharitmanas and Ramayana are read not only in India, but also in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Other notable inclusions in the 2024 MOWCAP Regional Register include Mongolia’s Family Chart of Hereditary Lords of the Khalkha Mongols, the House of Genghis Khan, and significant works from the communities of Huizhou in China, and Kedah State in Malaysia, as testaments to the importance of collating regional family histories.
Among the 20 collections added this year are the works of Bangladesh’s sci-fi feminist author, Rokeya S. Hossain, who imagined both helicopters and solar panels before they had been invented in her 1905 utopian narrative, Sultana’s Dream, as well as Australia and Tuvalu’s joint documentation on the findings of scientific expeditions investigating the formation of coral reefs.
In many parts of the world, documentary archives are under threat, notably in developing countries and a collective effort is needed to preserve and digitize this material, which could otherwise be lost forever.
Since 1992, UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Programme has been working towards preventing the irrevocable loss of our collective memory by protecting the world’s documentary heritage in all its forms, democratizing access to it, and raising awareness of its significance, and therefore, most importantly, of the need to preserve it.
Regional and national MoW committees are autonomous entities made up of documentary heritage professionals and play a crucial role in implementing the Programme's strategy at national and regional levels. While the International Register lists documentary heritage recommended by the International Advisory Committee and endorsed by the Executive Board for its world significance and outstanding universal value, the success of the MoW Programme relies heavily on the drive, initiative, and enthusiasm of these regional and national committees. Their efforts are equally, if not more, important in preserving and promoting documentary heritage globally.
Engaging with the MoW International Register is a practical way to join the global effort to enhance awareness of and support for the preservation of and access to documentary heritage. In addition, given the great potential of the International Register for research and education, it provides an opportunity for countries to raise the profile and utility of their documentary heritage.
