233-year-old Ramayana manuscript gifted to Ayodhya’s Ram Katha Museum

• A rare 233-year-old Sanskrit manuscript of Valmiki’s Ramayana has been gifted to the Ram Katha museum in Ayodhya.

• Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice Chancellor of the Central Sanskrit University, presented the manuscript to Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Executive Council of Prime Ministers Museum and Library.

• The manuscript, authored by Adi Kavi Valmiki with a classical commentary (tika) by Maheshvara Tirtha, is written in Sanskrit (in Devanagari script).

• It is a historically significant work dating to Vikrama Samvat 1849 (1792 CE) and represents a rare preserved textual tradition of the Ramayana.

• The collection comprises five principal kandas of the epic —  Balakanda, Aranyakanda, Kiskindhakanda, Sundarakanda, and Yuddhakanda.

• The manuscript, previously loaned to Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, has now been permanently gifted to the Antarrashtriya Ram Katha Sangrahalaya (International Ram Katha Museum), Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

• This significant gesture supports the museum’s development as a global centre for Ramayana heritage, ensuring wider public access and preservation.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)