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June 2026

Gyan Bharatam, announced during Union Budget 2025-26, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India. The Ministry of Culture launched the Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Survey on 16 March 2026, under the Gyan Bharatam initiative, to identify and document manuscripts located across the country. The Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Survey aims to map the presence of manuscripts across India and lay the groundwork for their systematic preservation, research, and digitisation. India possesses one of the world’s richest manuscript traditions across subjects like philosophy, science, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, literature, arts, and governance. A large part of this knowledge heritage, however, remains undocumented and dispersed across private homes, temples, monasteries, libraries, and institutions. Through the Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Survey, the Ministry of Culture aims to create a geo-tagged national inventory of manuscript repositories across districts and states. This effort will help build a national ‘Manuscript Presence Map', enabling systematic cataloguing, conservation planning, and long-term research. The initiative will support the creation of digital resources that can be preserved for future generations and made accessible to scholars and researchers. The Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Survey encourages wide public participation through the Gyan Bharatam mobile application and website. Authorised surveyors appointed under the mission and custodians of manuscripts, such as families, scholars, temples, and institutions, as well as individuals aware of manuscript collections in their communities, can submit information about manuscripts. The process is voluntary and non-intrusive, and participation does not affect ownership or require transfer of manuscripts.