• The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) added 74 new documentary heritage collections to its Memory of the World Register, bringing the total number of inscribed collections to 570. 

• The entries — from 72 countries and four international organisations — cover topics such as the scientific revolution, women's contribution to history and major milestones of multilateralism.

• Manuscripts of ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and Bharat Muni’s ‘Natyashastra’ are among the new documentary heritage collections that have been added to the list.

• Documentary heritage related to the life and work of naturalist Charles Darwin, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the UN in 1948 and the Geneva Conventions are now part of the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

• Collections are added to the register by decision of UNESCO’s Executive Board, following the evaluation of nominations by an independent international advisory committee.

• Among the newly inscribed collections, 14 pertain to scientific documentary heritage. The archives of Friedrich Nietzsche (Germany), Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (Germany) — which contain the very first recorded X-ray photographs — and Carlos Chagas (Brazil), a pioneer in disease research, have also been included.

• Other additions include collections relate to the memory of slavery, submitted by Angola, Aruba, Cabo Verde, Curaçao, and Mozambique, as well as archives concerning prominent historical women such as girls’ education pioneer Raden Ajeng Kartini (Indonesia and the Netherlands), author Katherine Mansfield (New Zealand), and travel writers Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Ella Maillart (Switzerland).

Manuscript of the Natyashastra of Bharatamuni: Preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and codified around the 2nd century BC, the ‘Natyashastra’ of Bharatamuni is an epitome of the Natyaveda, an oral body of knowledge of performing art containing 36,000 verses known as the Gandharvaveda. The ‘Natyashastra’ embodies a comprehensive set of rules that define natya (drama), abhinaya (performance), rasa (aesthetic experience), bhava (emotion), sangita (music), among others, thus articulating the character of Indian theatre, poetics, aesthetics, dance and music. Bharatamuni makes a groundbreaking statement in ‘Natyashastra’, asserting that “no meaning can blossom forth without rasa”, a profound contribution to world literature. 

Manuscript Collection of ‘Bhagavad Gita’: The ‘Bhagavad Gita’, containing 700 verses in 18 chapters, is embedded within the Bhishmaparva of the epic ‘Mahabharata’. It takes the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna with armies lined up for the great war intended to free Arjuna of dejection. ‘Bhagavad Gita’ is a central text in the continuous, cumulative ancient intellectual Indian tradition, synthesizing various thought movements such as, Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and Carvaka. Due to its philosophical breadth and depth, the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ has been read for centuries across the globe and translated into many languages.

Other Indian nominations inscribed on the Register:

• The I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection (1997)

• Archives of the Dutch East India Company (2003)

• Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry (2005)

• Rigveda (2007)

• Laghu Kalacakra Tantra Jatika (Vimalaprabha) (2011)

• Tarikh-e-Khandan-e-Timuriyah (2011)

• Shantinatha Charitra (2013)

• Gilgit Manuscript (2017)

• Maitreyayvarakarana (2017)

• Abhinavagupta (940-1015 CE): Collection of Manuscripts of his works (2023)

• First Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Archives (2023).

• Illustrated manuscripts of ancient Ramacharitamanas (2024)

• The manuscript of the Sahrdayaloka-Locana (2024)

• The 15th century manuscript of the Panchatantra fables (2024).

UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Programme

• UNESCO launched the Memory of the World (MoW) Programme in 1992 to guard against the collective amnesia, calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world and ensuring their wide dissemination. 

• Documentary heritage is a legacy of humankind, through which we can look back into the past, enrich our present lives, and look into the future with the boldness forged by enduring memories. 

• Documentary heritage is an important ingredient of Sustainable Development, linking all the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the cultural fabrics that hold societies together.  

• The documentary heritage of many peoples has become dispersed because of accidental or deliberate displacement of holdings and collections, “spoils of war” or other historical circumstance. Sometimes, practical or political barriers hinder access, while in other cases deterioration or destruction are the threats. 

• The Programme’s vision is that the world’s documentary heritage belongs to all, should be fully preserved and protected for all and, with due recognition of cultural mores and practicalities, should be permanently accessible to all without hindrance.  

• It recognises documentary heritage of international, regional and national significance and maintains registers of it. It facilitates preservation, and access without discrimination. 

• It campaigns to raise awareness of the documentary heritage, to alert governments, the general public, business and commerce to preservation needs, and to raise funds.

The Programme’s objectives are thus to: 

i) Facilitate preservation of the world’s documentary heritage. 

ii) Catalyse universal access to documentary heritage.

iii) Enhance public awareness worldwide of the significance of documentary heritage.

• The international register is composed of documentary heritage that meets the criteria set out in the general guidelines, among which world significance is the primary criterion. 

• Documentary heritage can include materials from a variety of fields and forms, including visual, audio, paper and digital, among others.

• The Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is implemented by UNESCO through a system of committees and support mechanisms operating at international, regional and national levels that conforms to the general guidelines to safeguard documentary heritage.

• The International Advisory Committee (IAC) is the main body responsible for advising UNESCO on the planning and implementation of the Programme as a whole. 

• It comprises 14 members serving in a personal capacity, appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO, and chosen for their authority in the field of documentary heritage.

• Regional and national MoW committees are autonomous entities made up of documentary heritage professionals on the ground. 

• They are a crucial part of the Programme and implement its strategy on national and regional levels. 

• The success of the MoW Programme relies heavily on the drive, initiative and enthusiasm of regional and national committees. To facilitate exchange among the committees, the Programme organises inter-regional conferences on pressing topics.

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