GYAN BHARATAM MISSION
By PIB Delhi
Gyan Bharatam, announced during Union Budget 2025-26, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India, aimed at unearthing, safeguarding, and preserving India’s vast manuscript heritage. Aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the initiative seeks to harmonize cultural preservation with human capital development, ensuring that India’s ancient wisdom continues to inspire generations to come. To support the initiative, the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) has sanctioned Rs.491.66 crore for the period 2025-2031. This initiative focuses on five verticals, namely (i) Survey and Cataloguing, (ii) Conservation and Capacity Building, (iii) Technology and Digitization, (iv) Linguistics and Translation, and (v) Research, Publication, and Outreach.
Gyan Bharatam has been mandated to establish a nationwide network of Cluster Centers (CCs) and Independent Centers (ICs) across the country. A list of CCs and ICs onboarded so far is annexed.
More than 7.5 Lakh manuscripts have been digitized under Gyan Bharatam, out of which 1.29 Lakh manuscripts are available on the Gyan Bharatam Portal i.e. https://gyanbharatam.com.
(The Key technical and quality standards and metadata protocols for digitization and cataloguing of manuscripts are:
1. Strict imaging norms to ensure preservation and high-quality digital outputs.
- Minimum 400 DPI, 24-bit colour scanning (600 DPI where required) using non-destructive face-up overhead scanners with cold light.
- Mandatory image post-processing includes de-skewing, cropping, light equalization, and the removal of digital “noise” like worm-marks or stain-marks while maintaining color integrity and 100% manual quality verification.
- Master files in TIFF v 6.0 (LZW compressed); access copies in JPEG; searchable copies in PDF/A with indelible watermark.
- Long-term storage through LTO-9 tapes with cloud-based backup and disaster recovery.
- Building a fully functional, AI-integrated digital platform and mobile application.
- Metadata Capture levels: Descriptive metadata (content), Structural metadata (navigation), Technical metadata, Administrative metadata-incorporating manuscript content details, details on original source, institutional details, locative region, language, script, conservation status, date of creation, version of digital object, file format used, compression technology used, object relationship, etc.
- Metadata is supplied in CSV and XML formats with each digitization batch.
The following measures have been taken in this regard:
(i) 45 Centers have been onboarded so far to carry out the activities outlined under the Gyan Bhatamam initiative on the aforesaid five verticals.
(ii) 20 States / UTs have also been onboarded so far to act as the Nodal Coordinating Authority for Gyan Bharatam implementation within the State / UT concerned.
(iii) A detailed manual on preservation and conservation has also been framed and shared with esteemed conservation experts for feedback.
(iv) The survey app has been developed and shared with stakeholders for feedback.
(v) Technical partners have been onboarded for:
- Basic level metadata creation and its integration on the National Digital Repository (NDR), and to facilitate integration of manuscripts and their metadata for global accessibility via NDR.
- Deployment of scanners & equipments to be deployed across designated centres for digitization of manuscripts.
- Building a fully functional, AI-integrated digital platform and mobile application.
- Providing continuous hot, cold, cloud-based storage hosting, backup, and security support.
- Data storage using LTO-9 tape for long-term archival and disaster recovery management.
This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Annexure
| Cluster Centres (28) | ||
| S. No | State | Organization Name |
| 1 | Assam | Patna Museum, Patna |
| 2 | Bihar | Nava Nalanda Mahavihar, Nalanda |
| 3 | Patna Musuem, Patna | |
| 4 | Delhi | University Library Jamia Hamdard |
| 5 | Central Sanskrit University | |
| 6 | Gujarat | Shruta Ratnakara, Ahmedabad |
| 7 | Oriental Institute, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara | |
| 8 | Himachal Pradesh | Himachal State Museum, Shimla |
| 9 | Dept of Sanskrit, Assam University, Silchar | Dept. of Persian, University of Kashmir, Srinagar |
| 10 | Shasvat Art Gallery Jammu | |
| 11 | Karnataka | Samskriti Foundation, Mysuru |
| 12 | Oriental Research Institute, Mysuru | |
| 13 | Kerala | Oriental Research Institute & Manuscript Library, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram |
| 14 | Ladakh | Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh |
| 15 | Manipur | Manipur State Archives |
| 16 | Madhya Pradesh | Department of Sanskrit, Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar |
| 17 | Maharashtra | Kavi Kulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Nagpur |
| 18 | Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune | |
| 19 | Odisha | SARASVATI Bhadrak |
| 20 | Department of Sanskrit, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar | |
| 21 | Rajasthan | Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy, Jaipur |
| 22 | Vishwa Gurudeep Ashram Shodha Sansthan, Jaipur | |
| 23 | Sikkim | Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok |
| 24 | Telangana | Telangana State Archives & Research Institute, Hyderabad |
| 25 | Uttar Pradesh | Vrindavan Research Institute, Vrindavan |
| 26 | Uttarakhand | Shri Laxmidhar Acharya Chakradhar Joshi Vidyamandir Shodh Sansthan (SLACJVMSS), Nakshatra Vedhshala, Devprayag |
| 27 | University of Patanjali | |
| 28 | West Bengal | The Asiatic Society, Kolkata |
| Independent Centres (17) | ||
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Sanatan Jeevan Trust, Tirupati |
| 2 | Bihar | Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, Patna |
| 3 | Bodh Gaya Math, Gaya | |
| 4 | Gujarat | Adhyatma Parivar Trust, Surat |
| 5 | Haryana | Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra |
| 6 | Karnataka | Tara Prakashan Vedic Library & Research Centre, Bangaluru |
| 7 | Kerala | Sevadhi Museum & Ideological Research Institute, Kottayam |
| 8 | Chinmaya International Foundation, Ernakulam | |
| 9 | Maharashtra | Anandashram Samsthan, Pune |
| 10 | Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal Sadashiv Peth, Pune | |
| 11 | Madhya Pradesh | Anekant Gyan Mandir Bina |
| 12 | Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Ujjain | |
| 13 | Rajasthan | Abhay Jain Granthalaya, Bikaner |
| 14 | Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur | |
| 15 | Padmashri Narayan Das Pandulipi Shodh Sansthan, Jaipur | |
| 16 | Uttar Pradesh | Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Varanasi |
| 17 | Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayagraj | |
