ORI now in in-charge hands

$50,000 grant remains unutilised

At a time when the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) is celebrating its 125th anniversary shortly, the pride of Mysore will be without a full time director.

The incumbent honorary director Vidwan M Shivakumarswamy will be retiring in a day or two and in his place the in-charge director will be the chairman of the Sanskrit department, Manasagangorthi.

Vice chancellor Prof V G Talwar told Deccan Herald that Shivakumaraswamy will be relieved on Thursday of his charge and since it will take time to appoint a new director, the institute will be under the incharge’s charge.

Meanwhile, the outgoing honorary director speaking to this newspaper said that he had lots of plans for the ORI which he wanted to execute like holding the 125th anniversary by bringing out books and also holding a national seminar.

His tenure of one year had come to a close and he was asked to continue in office. But various pulls and pressures in the university has led to his exit, said the vice chancellor.

Curators adorn wall

The chambers  of the director of ORI now wears a very benevolent look with the greats of the institute who had headed it over more than a century adorning the walls.
The oil paintings of the six curators who headed the institute from 1891 to 1954 as also the other directors have been installed in the director’s chamber just about a week ago.

The first curator of ORI,  which was then known as the Oriental Library, was Prof Alladi Mahadeva Shastri who was heading it from 1891 to 1916. Then followed Vidwan R Raghavendrachar from 1916 t 1918, and the third was none other than Dr R Ramashastry the discoverer of Kautilya’s Arthashastra from 1918 to 1929.

The other three curators were Prof D Srinavasachar from 1929 to 1936, Vidwan M S Basavalingaiah from 1936 to 1943 and Vidwan H R Rangaswamy Iyengar from 1943 to 1954.

The ORI was built in 1887 and the person in charge of the then library was the renowned philosopher Prof M Hiriyanna a contemporary of former president S Radhakrishnan. His portrait also finds a prominent place in the office.

“We have no documented proof of Prof Hiriyanna being in charge of the library when it was started. His portrait was dumped somewhere all these years and it took quite some time to find it and restore it to its rightful place. Even the list of the department heads was not there all these years and now the heads who have served the ORI is displayed for all to see,” said Shivakumaraswamy.

It was Dr G Marulusiddaiah the director from 1966 to 1981 who catalogued the manuscripts and Dr H P Malledavaru did work on Agamashastras, he said.

However, the $50,000 grant which the US Embassy has given to ORI in January last is still remaining unutilised. The grant was given to restore the building as it needs urgent repairs. The roof is leaking and as a result the preservation of manuscripts becomes a problem. But sadly the university is still to take a decision on utilising the grant, he said.