With the inclusion of Gita and Natyashastra, India now has 14 entries in the Register.
- India’s Rig Veda, Gilgit Manuscript, Manuscripts of Abhinavagupta (940-1015 CE), Maitreyayvarakarana, (a manuscript of the Pala period) etc. have also been included in the Register.
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1948, is also among the new entries in the Register.
About the Inscriptions
- Bhagavad Gita
- Part of the Mahabharata, specifically within the Bhīṣmaparva (Chapters 23–40).
- Structured as a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
- It is considered to be composed in the 2nd or 1st century BCE.
- Comprises of 700 verses across 18 chapters.
- Relevance: Considered a guide to living a meaningful and purposeful life.
- Natyashastra
- Preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
- Considered the essence of Nāṭyaveda — an oral tradition of performing arts comprising 36,000 verses, also known as the Gāndharvaveda.
- It deals with drama (nāṭya), performance (abhinaya), aesthetic emotion (rasa), feeling (bhāva), and music (saṅgīta).
- Believed to have been codified around the 2nd century BCE by Bharatmuni in Sanskrit.
- Laid the Foundation of Indian poetics, theatre, dance, and aesthetics.
UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme
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