Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the International Conference on Gyan Bharatam in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on Friday, September 12, 2025. While addressing the conference, PM Narendra Modi also launched the Gyan Bharatam Portal – a dedicated digital platform to accelerate the manuscript digitisation, preservation, and public access. He exclaimed, ““India’s knowledge tradition remains rich to this day because it is built on four foundational pillars of Preservation, Innovation, Addition, and Adaptation.”
What did PM Narendra Modi say about India’s collection of manuscripts?
PM Narendra Modi also said that today, India has the world’s largest collection of about one crore manuscripts. He said that the manuscripts exist in nearly 80 languages across the country. PM Modi also listed Sanskrit, Prakrit, Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, and Marathi among the many languages in which India’s vast ocean of knowledge is preserved.
PM Narendra Modi shared an experience from his Kuwait visit
At this juncture, PM Narendra Modi also shared an experience from his personal visit to Kuwait and stated that he had met a gentleman who possessed an extensive collection of historical documents. According to PM Modi, those documents described in detail about the India’s ancient maritime trade routes. PM Modi stated that the gentleman had approached him with great pride and presented materials that showcased how India conducted sea-based trade centuries ago.
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such collections reflected the depth of India’s global engagement and the respect it commands across borders. He emphasized the need to preserve and integrate these scattered treasures into the broader national effort. PM Modi also affirmed that these records—wherever they may be found—must be documented, digitized, and celebrated as part of India’s civilizational heritage.
