About the Campaign
India’s manuscripts and inscriptions hold centuries of knowledge, but much of this heritage remains fragmented across libraries, temples, private collections and institutional archives. MIDF is building Smriti, an indigenous digital platform that brings these collections together into a searchable, machine-readable repository. The platform combines digitisation with AI-powered OCR, transcription, metadata enrichment and semantic search, making India’s written heritage more accessible to researchers, institutions and the public.
The Problem & The Solution
India is estimated to hold around 10 million manuscripts, while only a small fraction is currently searchable and digitally usable. MIDF addresses this gap by connecting existing digitisation efforts and supporting new digitisation through conservation-grade standards, multi-script technology and AI-ready metadata.
Expected Impact & Beneficiaries
- 1,000+ inscriptions and 71,000+ metadata records through the Pratnakirti pilot.
- 91,000+ texts covering 2.5 crore pages through the eGangotri pilot.
- 50 lakh palm-leaf folios being brought into the digital preservation pipeline through eSahitya.
- Bring these and other collections into a unified, searchable digital ecosystem.
- Enable researchers, scholars and future AI systems to discover and work with India’s civilizational knowledge.
Geographic Area
Pan-India, connecting manuscript and inscription collections from institutions and custodians across India through a unified digital platform.
