Malayalam manuscripts to be digitised

KOTTAYAM: The Tubingen University, Germany,  has started the   digitisation of the earliest Malayalam manuscripts of  literary works presented to it by Dr Herman Gundert (1814- 1893),  author of the first Malayalam-English dictionary.
Dr Gundert  had  stayed in Kerala for 20 years from 1839 to 1859  for his missionary work as well as  research activities. The manuscripts  include  ‘Payyannur Pattu’( a historical ballet of Malabar),  ‘Thalassery Rekhakal,’ ( collections of documents which discuss  the  effects of western colonisation in the last half of  18th century),  ‘Thacholiy Pattukal,’  ‘Jnanapana,’ ‘Ona Pattu,’ ‘Rama Charitham,’  ‘Krishnagadha’  and ‘Mahabharatham Kilipattu.’  

“Most of the manuscripts  were handed over by Dr Gundert himself to the university library and the rest   by his relatives. The Tubingen University was engaged in studying  India-related issues in Germany,” Prof Scaria Zacharia,  Herman Gundert Chair at the  university,  told DC.   The digitisation will be an asset to those who want to know the history and the intellectual legacy of the state, he said.

The collection of manuscripts was first identified by Dr Zacharia in 1986. The India studies department of the university will assist in the digitisation which is  funded by the European Union  to facilitate cultural exchanges between the two countries. The university has over  one lakh manuscripts belonging to languages and literature other than Malayalam.   It has instituted a research chair for studying Kerala-related studies, which conducts classes in Malayalam.