PROJECT and Activities:

Digitization of medical Manuscripts available in Karnataka:

• The Indian medical heritage has been extremely productive. India has one of the largest collections of medical manuscripts of any civilization in the world.
• While there is no precise enumeration of the number of manuscripts, estimates vary widely, putting it in the region of 20000 to 100,000 manuscripts.
• Several of these manuscripts are now in institutions such as – Oriental Manuscripts Libraries, Indological Research Institutions, Universities, Mutts and archives and many are
   still in private collections.

The processes involved in this project are:

• Approaching the individuals, mutts, institutes and repositories that have the manuscripts and request them to provide them for digitization.
• After obtaining the permit we collect and revive those manuscripts.

Reviving the manuscripts include:

 • Separating the leaves of the manuscripts that are adhered to each other.
 • Dusting of the leaves with a brush.
 • Removing of the insects manually if any.
 • Oiling the manuscripts to keep their texture intact.
 • Drying the manuscripts.
 • Inking the manuscripts for a better visibility.
 • Once completely dry it is taken for digitization.

• The revived manuscripts are digitized using the scanner meant for it.
• The images are gathered and numbered.
• The manuscript data is noted in the prescribed format.
• The manuscripts are bundled and handed over to their respective owners along with ta copy of the digitized version.
• The collected images are again cleaned using the software and finally uploaded into the software along with the relevant data for each manuscript.