Introduction

The Department of Manuscriptology was established in 1996. The Department is making efforts to collect all kinds of manuscripts and protect them to know our past. The activity involves four stages: 1. Collection of  Manuscripts 2. Editing 3.Studying and 4.Publishing. Now the department has plans to digitalize the present and also the future collection. The department has in its collection more the 5,000 valuable manuscripts in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Sanskrit scripts. The collection includes valuable works like Nanni’s Bharata Halayudha Stotra, Kumara Sambhava, Shivadi kyaratnavali and an interpretation of Margha Kavya. Rare manuscripts like Sanskrit language but Kannada script; Kannada language but Telugu script; Telugu language Kannada scripts are also in the collection and some of them are with colourful illustrations.

These manuscripts are important in reconstructing the history of not only of Karnataka but of south India. Out of 5,000 Manuscripts 2000 Manuscripts have been catalogued and published in 5 volumes as descriptive catalogue. The Catalogue contains details about the scribe, script, writer and the patron etc. We have published some of them in print form like Vishnusharmana Panchatantra, Hiriyannakaviya HayaRatnashreni, Chidanandavadhuta Charitrya, Gundabramyya Sahitya, which were hitherto unavailable. Department also offers Research programs.

The Department is obtaining the assistance of scholars in the respective field for editing, publishing and study of the texts. The prime aims and objective of the Department is to recreate the culture importance of the south Indian writing tradition through the manuscripts.

1. From the study of manuscripts we can identify the scripts, scriptwriters, language and the model of styles of scripts. The aim of our Department is to meaningfully study such aspects.
2. Through the collection of the traditional knowledge materials like (Palm leaves, supplier, illustrator etc.) manuscripts the cultural importance behind them may be studied
3. The Department has taken up the special work of collecting and editing study of such work (We have focus unpublished and cultural importance manuscripts).
4. The same model is extended to teaching levels while at the University level, specially to the M.A.,Ph.D. (Kannada) composite classes and department level for M.Phil and Ph.D. Classes and diploma classes teaching work is taken up.
5. Manuscripts laboratory very importance unit of the Department. in the laboratory Manuscripts, maps, pictures, files etc. Through this we dream to establish model manuscripts collection importance information in laboratory.