TC Web Desk
Murthy Trust, the family foundation of Sudha and Narayana Murthy, announced a grant of ₹7.5 crore to the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) to preserve and promote research on rare books and manuscripts in Sanskrit and Prakrit. The grant covers the construction of the Murthy Centre of Indic Studies, an 18,000 sq ft heritage-style, academic and research building with a 200-seater classroom capacity, a state-of-the art auditorium to conduct lectures, and an audio-visual studio to digitise ancient books and manuscripts. The Bhoomi Pooja for the building was conducted with Sudha Murthy laying the foundation stone of the building.
Speaking about the new initiative, Murthy stated, “BORI is a 105-year-old institution and a key pillar of India’s cultural heritage. It has produced a plethora of intellectual research papers and books. Every professor at BORI is a great scholar. I was mesmerised by the intellectual work of two books, ‘critical addition of Mahabharata’ and ‘Kane’s Dharmashastra’, both of which are very dear to my heart. As times have changed, audience want online classes to learn more about our culture and would like to interact with the staff. Hence, the Murthy Trust has decided to support BORI with a new and modern building that will be dedicated to celebrating India’s cultural heritage.”
Bhupal Patwardhan, Chairman, Executive Board of BORI also spoke about the institution’s plans for theMurty Centre of Indic Studies. “Hon’ble Sudhatai has given funding for academic projects, and now the Institute has approximately 40 scholars working on different subjects from Indian philosophy to Kathak, and from Ayurveda to astronomy. The upcoming Murthy Centre of Indic Studies can accommodate more than 60 scholars. At the same time, the institute has now entered into education as well. So, the classrooms can accommodate up to 200 students for different courses and as this Murthy Centre shall have a studio, we cangenerate good online content which will be offered on our platform ‘Bharat Vidya’. The Institute has 28,000 manuscripts and old books. To support these books the new building will provide a conservation laboratory. This is going to be a big leap for the Institute and its future. With this facility, the different subjects from Indic culture can be disseminated all over the world. So, we are extremely grateful to the Murty Trust”.
