In recent years, there have been several attempts to preserve palm leaf manuscripts containing vital information on Hinduism. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) now is planning to collect manuscripts from across India and digitize the manuscripts for posterity. As part of its efforts, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is organizing a national seminar on palm leaf manuscripts at Tirupati on November 17 and 18. Several eminent scholars and manuscriptologists are participating in the seminar. It is estimated that there are more than half a million palm manuscripts in India and majority of them are in Sanskrit. This is the count of known manuscripts, no idea about the unknown manuscripts stored in temples, private houses and old government offices. Most of the manuscripts are in a rotten state due to lack of maintenance. It must be remembered that ancient scholars had used a mixture of turmeric and oil to preserve the leaves for hundreds of years. This is one reason why t

Virgin Comics is releasing a five issue mini-series titled ‘The Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma: Panchatantra.’ Panchatantra needs no introduction to Indians. It is the first anthology of animals and also the oldest collection of stories for children. The stories are credited to Vishnu Sharma. So how is the story being retold? The flier of ‘The Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma: Panchatantra’ in Virgin Comics gives some indication. Something is invading the stories of our childhood, leaving death and oblivion in its wake. Now, a motley crew of animal heroes from ancient Indian fables must unite to survive. But first they must find the boy destined to save them, the chosen guardian of the Panchatantra. Thing is… he has no idea they even exist. Vishnu Sharma, would be boy-hero, is too busy playing in online tournaments to care about fighting storybook wars. But when a none-too-fictional talking lion, monkey and bull arrive at his doorstep, Vishnu must choose between protecting t