Himachal Governor advocates Devanagari script for linguistic unity at seminar

Emphasising the role of a common script in strengthening linguistic unity, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Thursday proposed the widespread adoption of the Devanagari script for all Indian languages to promote better mutual comprehension. He made these remarks while inaugurating a two-day national seminar on “Problems of Translation between Indian Languages: A Case Study of the Translation of Tulsidasa’s Ramcharitmanas in South Indian Languages” at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla.

In his keynote address, the Governor highlighted the richness of India’s linguistic diversity, stating that despite differences in language and dialect, the spirit of unity in diversity is the true strength of the nation.

Describing the seminar’s theme as a reflection of India’s cultural cohesion and national consciousness, he noted that translation acts as a crucial bridge, allowing for communication across India’s vast linguistic landscape. “Preserving and passing down India’s spiritual heritage is possible only through thoughtful and faithful translations,” he said.

Referring to Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, the Governor praised it as a foundational cultural text for North India, blending poetic elegance with spiritual depth. “This epic transcends religious and cultural boundaries. Even the harshest critics from other religions admire Tulsidas’s literary genius,” he noted.

While acknowledging the presence of rich Ramayana traditions in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, the Governor said Ramcharitmanas has nonetheless had a deep and lasting influence in South India. He lauded the seminar’s focus on a comparative and critical study of the translations of the work into southern languages.