Rig Veda in UNESCO list hailed

Thursday, Jun 21, 2007 The Hindu

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesdaywelcomed the inclusion of the 3,000-year-old manuscripts of the Rig Veda by UNESCO in its cultural list for posterity.
“We welcome the development. Whenever items related to the cultural heritage of India get recognition by the world, it bring happiness to all countrymen,” Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
She was referring to the Rig Veda manuscripts from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, being selected for inscription in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” Register 2007.
So far, India has three other nominations inscribed on the Register — the I.A.S Tamil Medic Manuscript Collection (1997), Archives of the Dutch East India Company (2003) and the Saiva Manuscripts in Pondicherry (2005).
The Vedas are the first literary documents in the history of humankind and transcend far beyond their identity as scriptures, according to an official statement.
Out of the total number of 28,000 manuscripts housed at the institute in Pune,30 manuscripts of the Rig Veda form a valuable part of the collection. “These manuscripts are ofhigh value as unique examples of the intellectual and cultural heritage not only of India, but of the world,” it said.
The inclusion of the Rig Veda was recommended by the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme meeting last week in Pretoria, South Africa. The programme, launched in 1992 to preserve and promote documentary heritage of global significance, much of which is endangered, helps networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for preservation of, and access to, documentary material. — PTI

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062150920900.htm

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