Pitch to increase Wikipedians' tribe in Sanskrit

There have been several efforts to keep Sanskrit alive in popular culture. A team of Wikipedians in the City has now joined this endeavour.

They are doing their bit for the language by working towards the expansion of Sanskrit Wikipedia. Roping in college professors and students to actively contribute to Sanskrit Wikipedia, the team is spearheading a movement for popularising Sanskrit Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wiktionary and Wikiquote.

In a first such workshop on ‘Samskrit Wiki’ organised by the Samskrit Wiki Group here on February 14 and 15, 2015, Sanskrit professors were given basic understanding about Wikipedia editing.

Professors from Rashtriya Samskrit Samsthan (Sringeri and Puri campuses), Rashtriya Samskrutha Vidyapeetham, Tirupathi, Karnataka Sanskrit University, Samskrit Academy (Hyderabad), participated in the event apart from Sanskrit lecturers from several colleges in the city. These professors will henceforth actively contribute towards enriching Sanskrit Wikipedia.

The Samskrit Wiki Group is based out of Samskrita Bharati in the City. Content development of Sanskrit wikipedia is one of the projects of Samskruta Bharati. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Shubha, co-ordinator of the Samskrit Wiki wing, Samskrita Bharati, said that they had conducted several exhibitions earlier in this connection, but this was the first such workshop being held.

“Many of the participants had not heard of Sanskrit Wikipedia. People usually associate Wikipedia with information available in English. Not many people are aware about Wikipedia in regional languages. Very few know that Wikipedia also exists in Sanskrit,” she said.