Access to the ‘X series’Nepal Project Hands Over Digitised Documents to the National Archives

20 March 2024

Photo: CSMC

Bidur Bhattarai (third from right) hands over the digital copies to representatives of the National Archive of Nepal.

For decades, a German-Nepalese initiative captured thousands of manuscripts from Nepal’s written heritage on microfilm. Still, more than 20 years after the project's completion, the National Archives lacked access to some of the documents. With the help of CSMC, the gap has now been closed.

On 16 February 1970, representatives of the Nepalese government and the German Research Foundation (DFG) signed a contract that started a three-decade endeavour. In order to preserve Nepal’s rich written cultural heritage, which was threatened by decay, the members of the ‘Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project’ (NGMPP) recorded around 180,000 manuscripts, consisting of over 5 million folios, on microfilm. To gain access to these unique documents, the participants often travelled for days on horseback or on foot – oftentimes the only ways to reach the monasteries hidden in the northern mountain ranges of the country, where many of these manuscripts were stored. Thanks to their efforts, some of the oldest manuscripts of Hindu and Buddhist literature were preserved for future generations. The project was completed in March 2002.

In order to keep track of the huge quantities of manuscripts recorded, the microfilms were categorised into different series. The National Archives in Kathmandu holds a copy of each of these microfilm series – with one exception. To date, the National Archives have not had a copy of the so-called ‘X series’ consisting of around 700 manuscripts. The microfilms of this series are located in the Berlin State Library.

In cooperation with Berlin State Library and the DFG, the CSMC has now digitised all the microfilms of the X series. During a ceremony on 17 March 2024, Bidur Battharai, who coordinates the project ‘Preserving the Written Cultural Heritage of Nepal’ at the CSMC, handed over a digital copy of the data to representatives of the National Archives. This closes an important gap in the archives’ holdings and guarantees access to all manuscripts recorded as part of the NGMPP for the first time.

The CSMC has been actively involved in the preservation of Nepal’s written cultural heritage since 2018. During this time, its branch office in Kathmandu has become an important centre for preservation work, scientific exchange, and outreach to the local population. In a video series, we regularly present special manuscripts that are protected and researched as part of our project.