The Vaṭakke Maṭham Brahmasvam houses several collections, the primary one consisting of 748 palm leaf manuscripts originating from the Hindu monastic complex of the Śaṅkaran tradition in Thrissur, central Kerala. This large collection was digitized as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme (EAP1039, EAP1304).

In addition to this principal collection, the Vaṭakke Maṭham Brahmasvam also includes smaller collections donated over time by private owners, primarily from the Nampūtiri community. It is these collections that are being digitized as part of the Digital Preservation of Kerala Archives Project (DiPiKA).

Collection History

This collection holds a single manuscript manuscript, which was originally taken from Kerala to the USA by the renowned Vedic scholar Frits Staal. After his death, it passed into the possession of Michael Witzel, a Vedic scholar and comparative mythologist. During the clearing of Witzel’s office, the manuscript was gifted to T. P. Mahadevan, another Vedic scholar, who subsequently brought it back to Kerala and donated it to the Vaṭakke Maṭham Brahmasvam, thus returning it to its place of origin.

Repository History

Vaṭakke Maṭham Brahmasvam was initially known as Vaṭakke Maṭham (from Malayalam 'Northern Monastery') - one of the four Hindu monasteries located in the city of Thrissur, which are believed to be established by the famous philosopher Śaṅkara, an expounder of the Advaita Vedānta doctrine. The monastery was transformed into vedapāṭhaśālā – a traditional Vedic school – run by Nampūtiri brahmins, at least two centuries ago. Since 2008, the institution has housed the Vedic Research Centre, a dedicated subunit located in a modern building adjacent to the main complex. This Centre is responsible for the administration and promotion of Vedic studies, organizing scholarly events and maintaining a library that features both contemporary publications and a valuable collection of palm leaf manuscripts from the Thrissur monastic complex.

Project Description

DiPiKA is a collaboration between the Vadakke Madham Brahmaswam (Vedic Research Centre) in Thrissur, the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, Paris and Pondicherry), the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML, Collegeville, Minnesota), and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), University of Hamburg. The project is funded by Arcadia for a period of five years. The project aims at preserving the rich and highly endangered written cultural heritage of Kerala. It surveys and digitizes palm-leaf and paper manuscripts kept in private collections across the state. The digitized collections will be fed into a digital repository, thus forming an online archive of Kerala manuscripts that will be openly accessible. This will facilitate its use by scholars and private owners, thereby also fostering further local initiatives to safeguard historical written artifacts.