Over 30 Scholars Attend Two-Week Ayurvedic Manuscript Workshop in Kerala

33 scholars join two-week Ayurveda manuscript workshop in Thrissur, producing rare transliterations for research.

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Source : AI

Thrissur: More than 33 scholars, including 18 from Ayurveda and 15 from Sanskrit, participated in a two-week workshop on Ayurvedic manuscripts, fostering an interdisciplinary approach to manuscript studies.

The workshop was organised at the CSU Puranattukara (Guruvayoor) Campus in Thrissur from January 12 to 25 by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Union Ayush ministry in collaboration with the Central Sanskrit University (CSU), Delhi.

Organised under the Memorandum of Understanding between CCRAS and CSU, the workshop was part of CCRAS's national initiative to document, digitise and utilise classical Ayurvedic manuscripts, the Ayush ministry said in a statement.

The training programme covered key areas such as manuscriptology, palaeography, technical Ayurvedic terminology and script orientation, with specialised Lipi Parichaya sessions on Grantha and Vattezhuthu scripts, the statement said.

A strong emphasis was placed on hands-on transliteration training in Grantha, Medieval Malayalam, and Vattezhuthu, enabling participants to work directly on original palm-leaf manuscripts and to generate verifiable scholarly outputs within a short time, it stated.

As a major scholarly outcome of the workshop, five rare and previously unpublished Ayurvedic manuscripts were successfully transliterated and are now available for advanced research.

These include Dhanwanthari (Vaidya) Chinthamani, comprising 146 palm-leaf pages and transliterated from Grantha into Sanskrit; Dravyashuddhi, a 110-page Grantha manuscript transliterated into Sanskrit; Vaidyam, a 59-page Medieval Malayalam manuscript transliterated into Malayalam; Roga Nirnaya, Part I, consisting of 75 pages transliterated from Medieval Malayalam into Malayalam; and Vividharogangal, a 78 palm-leaf manuscript in Vattezhuthu transliterated into both Malayalam and Sanskrit.

Addressing the valedictory function of the workshop, Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, CCRAS, stated that the workshop was the second collaborative programme with the CSU under the Ayurveda Manuscript Research Initiative of CCRAS.

He noted that during the first such workshop conducted at the CSU Puri Campus in Odisha, 14 Ayurvedic manuscripts were transliterated, reflecting the continuity and expansion of this national effort.

Professor KK Shine, director of the CSU Guruvayoor Campus, along with professor K Vishwanathan, reiterated the university's commitment to future collaboration with CCRAS, particularly for the systematic preservation, scholarly processing and revival of Malayalam Ayurvedic manuscripts, which constitute a vital component of India's regional medical heritage.

The workshop was widely appreciated for its integrated approach, which involved Ayurveda and Sanskrit scholars, and for delivering tangible research outcomes within a limited timeframe, the statement said.

The CCRAS stated that such initiatives will strengthen evidence-based Ayurveda, preserve regional medical traditions and support the long-term conservation of India's classical medical knowledge. 

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