Assam: Digitization Carried Out for Historical Resouces and Books From the State

GUWAHATI: The Suryya Kumar Bhuyan Memorial Trust and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Assam officially handed over the digitized version of the rare sanchi manuscripts and artefacts available at Sri Sri Narowa Bali Satra and Sri Sri Narowa Kuji Satra. The digital versions of the documents were officially handed over to the representatives of the two satras by District Commissioner Devashish Sharma during a meeting at the Morigaon District Commissioner's office. 

Retired IAS officer and Co-convenor of INTACH, Assam Swapnanil Barua said that there are 22 satras in Morigaon district and they have many ancient books, idols and valuables. These ancient books and artefacts can provide us with many historical stories and their proper preservation can pave the way for research and study. 

 Dr Sheila Bora, prominent writer and convener of INTACH, Assam said that INTACH is a heritage preservation organization formed with the objective of identifying, documenting, preserving and making accessible to the public the historical resources of India. In 2022, the Assam Chapter of INTACH started preserving the manuscripts at Sri Sri Narowa Kuji Satra and Sri Sri Narowa Bali Satra. She said the materials preserved in the form of manuscripts in the satras are the main source of written information from the Middle Ages. The books are not only the most authentic evidence of medieval Assam but also record what aspects of life were considered important. The meeting appreciated the work and emphasized on the preservation of historical resources of other satras in the Morigaon district. She said that these preserved resources could be passed on to the new generation which would help in conservation and research. 

A team of conservators led by Dr Sheila Bora and Swapnanil Barua started working on Ramti. Mridumaucham Barak, General Secretary, Society for Srimanta Sankardev, Dhing was appointed as the Chief Coordinator of the project and he was assisted by Sanghati Adhikari and Manager Papu Das as Manager. Conservation aspects are supervised by the Integration Officer. Local youths are trained and employed in both locations. The manuscripts have been treated, preserved and digitized in a very scientific manner and the figurines use natural Hengul Haital dyes. There are 227 manuscripts in the Sri Sri Narowa Kuji Satra. 4093 folios and 8016 digitized images. There are 370 manuscripts, 6,221 folios and 1,1282 digitized images at Sri Sri Narowa Bali Satra. The youths involved in the project were awarded certificates at the function.

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