<p>Just as one gets close to the imposing building, built in classic European style, the smell of lemon tea sends a strong message to your olfactory nerves. You are almost on the verge of ‘beg, borrow, or steal’ this delicious-smelling-aptly-sweet citrus tea when you come face to face with a man in his late fifties, seeking to know the reason behind a stranger’s presence in the premises, his voice almost sure that you are here by mistake.<br /><br /> The citrus smell lingers on and you tell him you came looking for the Oriental Research Institute, the 125-year-old institution that houses some of India’s best kept manuscripts and is still continuing to do great work. Still looking puzzled, the man leads you into the place where manuscripts are neatly arranged and preserved. The smell gets progressively thicker. <br /><br />Source of the aroma<br />Under the lights, a woman sits with a bowl of dark oil beside her, dips the brush and lightly applies the oil on the palm leaf that has something engraved on it. So, the citrus tea aroma is actually the bowl of dark oil, called citronella oil.<br /><br />The letters are visible when she wipes it with cotton as the oil settles into the grooves, and darkens the letters. From experience, she can say whether it is Kannada, Sanskrit, or Devanagari or Nandinagari or even Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. Further interpreting it is the job of a research scholar. The manuscript is then set aside, awaiting the arrival of its reader. <br /><br />This century-and-a-quarter-old institution is home to some of the most priceless palm and paper manuscripts in the country, including Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’ (discovered and brought in 1909) and Jayantha Bhatta’s ‘Nyaya Manjari’ (on judiciary), Though the precise number of manuscripts and books still remains a big question, currently the institute is said to house about 33,000 palm-leaf manuscripts and about 35,000 books. <br /><br />All of these have been collected and collated by researchers and scholars who travelled the length and breadth of India to make this institute richer with passing time and adding to its trove of priceless treasure. <br /><br />Renamed twice <br />Established by the Mysore Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar as Oriental Library in 1891, the institute was later renamed Victoria Jubilee Institute. In the 1940s, courtesy University of Mysore, it was renamed the Oriental Research Institute.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Legend has it that most manuscripts were given to the institute by rulers of Mysore, the Wodeyars. Versions differ with the circumstances under which Vid S Shamashastry discovered, interpreted and edited ‘Arthashastra’ before publishing it later.<br /><br />While one says ‘Arthashastra’ was part of the manuscripts brought in from the Amba Vilas Palace, given by the Wodeyars, another version says the original manuscript was discovered by Shastry in Tamil Nadu. <br /><br />Sometimes called the Government Oriental Library and the Jubilee Hall owing to its history of being built to commemorate the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1887, the building was opened in 1891. Standing distinct in the otherwise flat surfaced surroundings, ORI, which also housed the Department of Archaeology, saw well-known historian B L Rice working on its premises. It was during the tenure of Rice that 9,000 inscriptions in 12 volumes of ‘Epigraphia Carnatica’ were published. <br /><br />The Institute continued to be under the wings of the Department of Education till 1916. With the setting up of the University of Mysore, the institute was handed over to the university for better administration. The monument served as the library for the university during its early years. In 1966, ORI shared works pertaining to research in Kannada. As the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies was set up, Kannada manuscripts were transfered.<br /><br />Even now, ORI has kept its doors open for both scholars and the general public (with a fee) to use the resources amidst a stringent framework. “We had to put our foot down since some of the rare books were borrowed by people who didn’t return it,” says the current Director Vidwan M Shivakumara Swamy. <br /><br />125 years; 125 books<br />With grandiose plans of publishing 125 books to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the institute next year, Director Shivakumara Swamy is striving hard with a set of select scholars to achieve that goal.<br /><br />Urging that the institute needs to sharpen its focus and be better equipped to preserve all the manuscripts for future generations, the Director also feels the need to get the younger generation interested in this trove of knowledge. <br /><br />“At ORI, we collect, collate, edit, preserve and conserve the manuscripts and rare printed books. Research is also carried out on literary texts across south Indian languages,” he says. The institute also welcomes donations of rare manuscripts preserved by families or institutions.<br /><br />The institute will then carry out the due process to save the priceless piece from being spoilt by the march of time. The institute has departed from its conventional method of preserving manuscripts and now captures them on microfilm, which then necessitates the use of a microfilm reader, for both viewing or studying. Digitisation of manuscripts is currently a work-in-progress at ORI. <br /><br /></p>
<p>Just as one gets close to the imposing building, built in classic European style, the smell of lemon tea sends a strong message to your olfactory nerves. You are almost on the verge of ‘beg, borrow, or steal’ this delicious-smelling-aptly-sweet citrus tea when you come face to face with a man in his late fifties, seeking to know the reason behind a stranger’s presence in the premises, his voice almost sure that you are here by mistake.<br /><br /> The citrus smell lingers on and you tell him you came looking for the Oriental Research Institute, the 125-year-old institution that houses some of India’s best kept manuscripts and is still continuing to do great work. Still looking puzzled, the man leads you into the place where manuscripts are neatly arranged and preserved. The smell gets progressively thicker. <br /><br />Source of the aroma<br />Under the lights, a woman sits with a bowl of dark oil beside her, dips the brush and lightly applies the oil on the palm leaf that has something engraved on it. So, the citrus tea aroma is actually the bowl of dark oil, called citronella oil.<br /><br />The letters are visible when she wipes it with cotton as the oil settles into the grooves, and darkens the letters. From experience, she can say whether it is Kannada, Sanskrit, or Devanagari or Nandinagari or even Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. Further interpreting it is the job of a research scholar. The manuscript is then set aside, awaiting the arrival of its reader. <br /><br />This century-and-a-quarter-old institution is home to some of the most priceless palm and paper manuscripts in the country, including Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’ (discovered and brought in 1909) and Jayantha Bhatta’s ‘Nyaya Manjari’ (on judiciary), Though the precise number of manuscripts and books still remains a big question, currently the institute is said to house about 33,000 palm-leaf manuscripts and about 35,000 books. <br /><br />All of these have been collected and collated by researchers and scholars who travelled the length and breadth of India to make this institute richer with passing time and adding to its trove of priceless treasure. <br /><br />Renamed twice <br />Established by the Mysore Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar as Oriental Library in 1891, the institute was later renamed Victoria Jubilee Institute. In the 1940s, courtesy University of Mysore, it was renamed the Oriental Research Institute.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Legend has it that most manuscripts were given to the institute by rulers of Mysore, the Wodeyars. Versions differ with the circumstances under which Vid S Shamashastry discovered, interpreted and edited ‘Arthashastra’ before publishing it later.<br /><br />While one says ‘Arthashastra’ was part of the manuscripts brought in from the Amba Vilas Palace, given by the Wodeyars, another version says the original manuscript was discovered by Shastry in Tamil Nadu. <br /><br />Sometimes called the Government Oriental Library and the Jubilee Hall owing to its history of being built to commemorate the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1887, the building was opened in 1891. Standing distinct in the otherwise flat surfaced surroundings, ORI, which also housed the Department of Archaeology, saw well-known historian B L Rice working on its premises. It was during the tenure of Rice that 9,000 inscriptions in 12 volumes of ‘Epigraphia Carnatica’ were published. <br /><br />The Institute continued to be under the wings of the Department of Education till 1916. With the setting up of the University of Mysore, the institute was handed over to the university for better administration. The monument served as the library for the university during its early years. In 1966, ORI shared works pertaining to research in Kannada. As the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies was set up, Kannada manuscripts were transfered.<br /><br />Even now, ORI has kept its doors open for both scholars and the general public (with a fee) to use the resources amidst a stringent framework. “We had to put our foot down since some of the rare books were borrowed by people who didn’t return it,” says the current Director Vidwan M Shivakumara Swamy. <br /><br />125 years; 125 books<br />With grandiose plans of publishing 125 books to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the institute next year, Director Shivakumara Swamy is striving hard with a set of select scholars to achieve that goal.<br /><br />Urging that the institute needs to sharpen its focus and be better equipped to preserve all the manuscripts for future generations, the Director also feels the need to get the younger generation interested in this trove of knowledge. <br /><br />“At ORI, we collect, collate, edit, preserve and conserve the manuscripts and rare printed books. Research is also carried out on literary texts across south Indian languages,” he says. The institute also welcomes donations of rare manuscripts preserved by families or institutions.<br /><br />The institute will then carry out the due process to save the priceless piece from being spoilt by the march of time. The institute has departed from its conventional method of preserving manuscripts and now captures them on microfilm, which then necessitates the use of a microfilm reader, for both viewing or studying. Digitisation of manuscripts is currently a work-in-progress at ORI. <br /><br /></p>
