GUWAHATI: The Hemkosh is the first etymological dictionary of the Assamese language compiled by the Late Hemchandra Barua and the Braille version of the same has made history by making its way to the Guinness World Records. The process to set the record began on April Thursday and ended on Saturday.
A total of 90640 words were included in the Braille version of the dictionary and printed at the Government of Assam Braille Press located in the Latakata region in Guwahati city’s Basistha locality.
The process began last year when Jayanta Baruah decided to create a braille version of the noted text. Two records were reportedly attempted during the process. Firstly, for the dimensions of the book including the length, breadth and height along with the combined weight of all the volumes. Secondly the word count in all the volumes combined.
Following the prescribed procedures, the measurements were taken both by considering all the volumes as well as by considering individual volumes using measuring tapes and a commercial digital weighing machine for the dimensions record.
For the word count record, the counting was done manually and included the participation of visually impaired people.
After proper verification of the video and photographic evidence, Guinness World Records recognised the Braille version of the Hemkosh as the ‘Largest Bilingual Braille Dictionary’ in the world. The declaration regarding this came on Monday.
Following its publication last year, Hemkosh was also the first Braille edition of a dictionary in South East Asia as was officially released by the former governor of Assam, Professor Jagdish Mukhi in Guwahati. Later, Jayanta Baruah also presented a copy of the Braille Hemkosh to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
Also Watch: