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LDII News in short
SAMBODHI
Prakrit Manuscripts in association with National Mission for Manuscripts under the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi.
Gujarat is the main centre of Manuscripts especially for Prakrit Manuscripts. There are large numbers of such Manuscripts preserved in various manuscripts repositories of Gujarat also in Mumbai, Jaipur, Udaipur, Shrinathdwara, Jodhpur etc. They are almost 900 to 150 years old and mostly belong to Jain, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic Cultures. These Manuscripts do need special attention to preserve and conserve. As there is sufficient scientific progress in this area, various experts from all over India were invited to present their lectures and demonstrations with case studies. The participants in this Seminar came from all over India. Among these Scholars Dr. J. B. Shah (Ahmedabad), Dr. S. P. Narang, Dr. V. S. Shukla, Dr. Dr. Usha Shukla, Dr. Uttam Singh, Dr. Hemavatinandan Sharma, Dr. Dinanath Sharma, Dr. V. K. Bhatt, Rev. Sadhu Shri Shrutiprakashswami, Prof. G. C. Tripathi, Dr. Shobhana Shah, Dr. Poornimaben Mehta, Prof. Shikharchandra Jain, Prof. Rajendra Nanawati etc were present.
Dr. Dipti Tripathi, Mission Director, National Mission for Manuscripts, New Delhi presided the Inaugural Function and Prof. G. C. Tripathi, Former Head, Kala Kosha, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts was the Chief Guest. Prof. Dipti Tripathi invited the Scholars to work in Manuscriptology. She applauded the activities of L. D. Institute of Indology under various schemes and projects. As there are large numbers of Manuscripts in Prakrit Language are un-deciphered and unexplored and also vanishing due to various reasons the Seminar was useful to draw the attention of Scholars to work and explore untouched area of Manuscripts. Dr. J. B. Shah, Director of the Institute briefed the activities of the Institute as well as history and development of Jain Literature in Prakrit Language and its importance. Chief Guest, Prof. G. C. Tripathi also described the relation of Sanskrit and Prakrit Language and their hidden inter relation. He told that it is necessary to publish the unpublished and unknown manuscripts in Prakrit Language because without knowing the contents of our rich heritage we would be unable to study and research on our socio-cultural heritage.
On this occasion Samani Kusumprajnashri also addressed the audience and described the importance of this seminar for knowing and familiarizing Prakrit Manuscripts. Prof. Prashant Dave anchored the session. Dr. Balaji Ganorkar applauded the support of Prof. Dipti Tripathi, Director, National Mission for Manuscripts and accorded the vote of thanks.
