Mahabharata, Arthashastra, Rajatarangini manuscripts added to UNESCO memory regional register

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Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared pictures of manuscripts. Photo: X/@gssjodhpur.

Manuscripts of the epic Mahabharata, Kalhana’s 12th-century historical chronicle Rajatarangini, and Kautilya’s Arthashastra, a work on governance and statecraft, have been inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, officials said on Thursday (November 5, 2026).

PIB Culture made the announcement on X and shared photos of UNESCO certificates.

“A moment of immense pride for India! The Rajatarangini, Mahabharata and Arthashastra have been inscribed in @UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, marking a historic milestone in the global recognition of India’s rich civilisational heritage!” it said.

🇮🇳 A moment of immense pride for India! The Rājataraṅgiṇī, Mahābhārata and Arthaśāstra have been inscribed in @UNESCO's Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, marking a historic milestone in the global recognition of India's rich civilisational heritage! https://t.co/LjJwIILhmf

The decision was taken at the 11th Session of the Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register held in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) said.

According to an official, the IGNCA played an important role in preparing the nomination dossiers for all three works.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat hailed the inscriptions as a landmark recognition of India’s extraordinary documentary and civilisational heritage.

“A moment of immense pride for India! The inclusion of Rajatarangini, Mahabharata and Arthashastra in @UNESCO Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register is a landmark recognition of India’s extraordinary documentary and civilisational heritage,” he posted.

“These timeless works embody our rich traditions of historical inquiry, philosophical thought and statecraft, whose wisdom continues to inspire humanity. Under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, India’s civilisational legacy is receiving unprecedented global recognition and its rightful place on the world stage,” the minister added.

With the recognition, India’s historical, literary, philosophical and political thought receives wider international acknowledgement, taking the country’s total number of inscriptions in the Regional Register to six, officials said.

Illustrated manuscripts of the Ramcharitamanas, featuring intricate miniature paintings, preserving Tulsidas’ work; a rare 15th-century manuscript containing animal fables and moral stories from the Panchatantra; and the manuscript of the Sahrdayaloka-Locana, a text of Indian poetics, were inscribed in the regional register in 2024.

A moment of immense pride for India! The inclusion of Rājataraṅgiṇī, Mahābhārata and Arthaśāstra in @UNESCO Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register is a landmark recognition of India's extraordinary documentary and civilisational heritage. These timeless works embody our rich traditions of historical inquiry, philosophical thought and statecraft, whose wisdom continues to inspire humanity. Under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, India's civilisational legacy is receiving unprecedented global recognition and its rightful place on the world stage.

The official termed the inscriptions a recognition of India’s knowledge traditions that contributed to human understanding of history, ethical values, philosophy, Dharma and good governance, and represented dimensions of India’s intellectual heritage.

According to the certificates shared by PIB Culture on X, the three inscriptions are officially named: ‘The Birch-bark (burjapatra) 'Manuscrip’ of Mahabharata—A Perennial Epic of South Asia’ housed at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune; ‘Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Ancient palm-leaf Manuscript on Governance and Statecraft’ housed at the Oriental Research Institute, Mysuru; and ‘The Manuscript of Rajatarangini by Kalhana: A Twelfth-century Chronicle of Kashmir’ housed at the Oriental Research Library, Sri Pratap Singh Library Complex, Srinagar.

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