Mahabharata, Arthashastra and Rajatarangini Manuscripts Included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Regional Register
The inscription recognises India's rich literary, historical and intellectual heritage, taking the country's total entries in the regional register to six.
NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Three significant Indian literary and historical works — the Mahabharata, Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Kalhana’s Rajatarangini have been included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, marking a major achievement for India’s cultural heritage, officials said on Thursday.
The announcement was made by PIB Culture through a post on X, accompanied by photographs of the certificates issued by UNESCO. The recognition highlights the historical and intellectual significance of these ancient works and their enduring contribution to human knowledge.
The decision was taken during the 11th Session of the Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register held in Jakarta, Indonesia, according to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
An official said IGNCA made an important contribution by preparing the nomination dossiers for all three manuscripts, supporting their inclusion in the prestigious regional collection.
Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat welcomed the development, describing it as a landmark acknowledgement of India’s documentary and civilisational legacy.
In a post on X, the minister said the recognition reflected the country’s longstanding traditions of historical research, philosophical thinking and political administration. He added that the wisdom preserved in these works continues to hold relevance for people across the world.
Shekhawat also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for bringing greater international attention to India’s cultural and intellectual contributions.
With these latest additions, India’s total number of inscriptions in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register has reached six, officials said.
Three other Indian works were previously included in the regional register in 2024. These comprised illustrated manuscripts of Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas, a rare 15th-century manuscript containing stories and moral teachings from the Panchatantra, and the Sahrdayaloka-Locana, an important text on Indian literary aesthetics and poetics.
The newly recognised manuscripts represent different dimensions of India’s intellectual traditions, encompassing epic literature, historical documentation and principles of governance.
According to the certificates shared by PIB Culture, the Mahabharata entry is officially titled ‘The Birch-bark (Burjapatra) Manuscript of Mahabharata – A Perennial Epic of South Asia’. The manuscript is preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.
The second entry, ‘Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Ancient Palm-leaf Manuscript on Governance and Statecraft’, is housed at the Oriental Research Institute in Mysuru.
The third recognition is for ‘The Manuscript of Rajatarangini by Kalhana: A Twelfth-century Chronicle of Kashmir’, preserved at the Oriental Research Library in the Sri Pratap Singh Library Complex, Srinagar.
Written by Kalhana in the 12th century, Rajatarangini provides a historical account of Kashmir’s rulers and political developments. The Arthashastra remains an important source on ancient Indian administration, economics and statecraft, while the Mahabharata holds a central place in India’s literary and philosophical traditions.
The inscriptions are being viewed as an important recognition of India’s contribution to global knowledge, particularly in the fields of history, ethics, philosophy, literature and governance.
