Patents Databases
A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value. Lithographs and printed volumes are not manuscripts. Manuscripts are found in hundreds of different languages and scripts. Often, one language is written in a number of different scripts. For example, Sanskrit is written in Oriya script, Grantha script, Devanagari script and many other scripts.
Manuscripts are distinct from historical records such as epigraphs on rocks, firmans, revenue records which provide direct information on events or processes in history. Manuscripts have knowledge content.
Indian Manuscript
A wide variety of manuscripts on a range of topics, mostly in Sanskrit.
Asiatic Society of Mumbai
The Society’s online platform, Granth Sanjeevani, hosts approximately 2000 manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and Prakrit from various regions of India and Nepal.
NAMAMI
The National Mission for Manuscripts was established in February 2003, by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India.
Rare Books Society of India
The Rare Book Society of India is the first of its kind – it is a virtual space for rare book collectors and history buffs to read, discuss, rediscover and download lost books.
World Digital Library
The World Digital Library is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.
Cornell University Library
The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections is Cornell’s principal repository of rare books, manuscripts and archival materials in history, literature, music, the arts, science, natural history, and technology.
Columbia University Libraries
he Rare Book & Manuscript Library is Columbia University’s principal repository for special collections. We collect, preserve, describe, promote, and provide access to the material evidence of diverse individuals and activities in alignment with the University’s research and teaching mission.
South Carolina Historical Society
An architectural treasure in its own right, the South Carolina Historical Society Museum is housed in a National Historic Landmark building and features interactive exhibits on the people, places, and movements that shaped the state and nation.
National Digital Library of India
Collection of nearly 6000 manuscripts on a wide range of topics, with emphasis on Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Gujarati.
Cambridge Digital Library
This online platform provides detailed descriptions of Cambridge’s South Asian manuscripts as well as complete digital facsimiles for a limited number of items.
Chunilal Gandhi Vidyabhavan
A collection of more than 2500 Sanskrit manuscripts covering a wide range of traditional subjects, with particular strengths in Purāṇa, Dharmaśāstra, Nyāya, Veda, and Vyākaraṇa.
Endangered Archives Programme
The EAP facilitates the digitization of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect, or physical deterioration.
Gujarat Ayurved University
Hundreds of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Gujarati, and Hindi, with emphasis on Āyurveda, Dhātuvāda, Tantra, and Rasaśāstra.
JAINpedia
Nearly 100 Jain manuscripts, many vividly illustrated. Languages include Sanskrit, Prakrit, Rajasthani, Gujarati, and Hindi.
Lalchand Research Library
Nearly 6000 Sanskrit manuscripts focused on traditional Hindu texts.
Muktabodha Indological Research Institute
A collection of more than 2600 Sanskrit manuscripts. Offerings include more than 2000 Śaiva Siddhānta texts from the French Institute of Pondicherry.
Myanmar Manuscript Digital Library
An ongoing project to digitize resources from Myanmar, with emphasis on palm leaf Buddhist manuscripts composed in Pali.
Panjab Digital Library
Nearly 2000 manuscripts, largely in Panjabi.
Penn Libraries
Approximately 3000 manuscripts on a wide range of topics, largely in Sanskrit. See the South Asian Manuscript Collection page for more details.
Raghunath Temple Library
Collection of more than 3500 Sanskrit manuscripts.
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Nearly 400 manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali, Sinhala, Tamil, Burmese, Malayalam, Thai, and Telugu.
Sanskrit Manuscripts
An assortment of more than 500 miscellaneous Sanskrit manuscripts.
Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan, Lucknow
More than 150 Sanskrit manuscripts, with emphasis on Kashmir Śaivism.
Vidya Prasarak Mandal
Small collection of 115 Sanskrit manuscripts on a variety of topics, with emphasis on Tantra, Jyotiṣa, and Vyākaraṇa.