Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library

2024-10-14T09:39:05Z

2409:4073:C:6A55:D85F:761F:3194:E985:

{{Short description|Research collection at University of Kerala}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2020}}
[[File:The Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library at Thiruvananthapuram.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Oriental Research Institute]]
'''Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library''' ('''ORIMSS''') is an academic department of the [[University of Kerala]] dedicated for [[Indology]]. It is located at [[Kariavattom]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]]. The institute carry out researches on Indian [[manuscript]]s, about 80% of which are in [[Sanskrit]]. The department is microfilming the manuscripts of certain technical subjects.

==History==
The genesis of this library is to be traced to the orders of [[Ayilyam Thirunal]], [[Maharaja of Travancore]] to collect all manuscripts in the state so as to be kept in the safe custody of the Palace Library. Considering the overwhelming enthusiasm from the Orientalists all over the world, during early nineteen hundred [[Swathi Thirunal]] Maharaja (the then King of Travancore) published many of the manuscripts in the Palace Library and the manuscripts collection of ancient families.

The Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library has over 70,000 works in 30,000 copies mainly of palm leaf manuscripts. In addition, some paper [[manuscript]]s, a few [[intaglio printing|copper plates]], writings on Bhurjapatra ([[birch bark]]), Agarutvak (the bark of ''[[Aquilaria malaccensis]]'') and textiles are also found in the collection. The manuscript collection also includes those belonging to other different [[India]]n states and nations such as [[Burma]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], [[Nepal]] etc. Another interesting fact is that about eighty per cent of the collections are in [[Sanskrit]]. The manuscript collection of this department is an invaluable source for the study of ancient scripts as [[Grantha alphabet|Grantha]], Vattezhuttu, Sarada, Nandinagari, Grantha [[Tamil script|Tamil]] etc. The initial moulds of scripts of modern Indian languages like [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Kannada]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and [[Burmese language|Burmese]] are also found.

===Curators of the library===
In 1908 [[T. Ganapati Sastri]] became the curator of this library.<ref name="raja">The contribution of Kerala to Sanskrit Literature; K. Kunjunni Raja; University of Madras 1980; pp. 257, 272</ref>
Sambasiva Sastri succeeded Ganapati Sastri as the curator of this library. He wrote Citrabhyudaya Kavya about Travancore king.<ref name="raja"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website|https://orimssku.in}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100502042426/http://www.swathithirunal.in/rel_manuscript.htm The Oriental Manuscript Library, University of Kerala] at ''[[Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma]]'' website

{{Education in Kerala}}
{{Scientific Research in Kerala |state=collapsed}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library}}
[[Category:Historiography of India]]
[[Category:Research institutes in Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Libraries in Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Research libraries]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Travancore]]
[[Category:Archives in India]]
[[Category:Indology]]
[[Category:Colleges affiliated to the University of Kerala]]
[[Category:Educational institutions in India with year of establishment missing]]

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Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library