‘Gyan Bharatam’ exhibition brings India’s manuscript heritage alive

More than a century ago, archaeologists excavating at Mohenjo-Daro, one of the great cities of the Harappan civilisation, uncovered small square seals engraved with strange symbols.

Neither quite letters nor pictures, these signs — part of the undeciphered Indus script — have intrigued scholars ever since. They testify to one of the world’s earliest urban societies, spread across parts of modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

This spirit of mystery and discovery was central to the ‘Gyan Bharatam’ Exhibition underway in New Delhi from September 11 to 13 as part of an International Conference on India’s manuscript heritage.

Organised by the Ministry of Culture, the event aimed to celebrate and preserve India’s ancient knowledge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address, said India has the largest collection of manuscripts in the world, around one crore, containing traces of humanity’s growth over thousands of years.

The exhibition took visitors on a journey through India’s past. The Indus script display was a major attraction, with seals, pottery and copper objects showing the pictorial symbols used by the Harappan people. Panels explained how modern researchers are using computer technology to try and decode these ancient writings.

The exhibition also showed how writing systems in India developed over time.

It featured the Brahmi script, the earliest known Indian script, and later scripts like Siddham, Sharada, and Devanagari, which spread knowledge across different regions. A section dedicated to Ashoka’s edicts explained how James Prinsep, a British scholar, first deciphered these stone inscriptions and opened new paths to understanding India’s history.

One of the most exciting exhibits was about the Modi script, once used for keeping official records.

Scientists at IIT-Roorkee introduced a new AI tool that can convert Modi script into the widely used Devanagari script. This technology, called MoScNet, along with the MoDeTrans dataset, helps in digitizing and preserving manuscripts for researchers and the public.

Visitors also saw a range of manuscripts covering subjects like medicine, architecture, astrology, law, literature, and spirituality. Ancient texts like the Sushruta Samhita on surgery, Bhagavad Gita, and early Quranic scriptures in Kufic script were among the highlights. Displays of tools such as inkpots, styluses, wooden stands, and handmade paper offered a glimpse into how manuscripts were created and cared for. The exhibition also featured manuscripts on architecture, city planning and sacred geometry.