First five re-printed volumes of Mongolian Kanjur Manuscripts released

The first set of five volumes of Mongolian Kanjur has published under the NMM was presented to the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of Guru Purnima, also known as Dharma Chakra Day, on 4th July 2020.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of reprinting of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).

Mongolian Kanjur, the Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes is considered to be the most important religious text in Mongolia. In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’- the words of Lord Buddha in particular.

It is held in high esteem by the Mongolian Buddhists and they worship the Kanjur at temples and recite the lines of Kanjur in daily life as a sacred ritual.

The Kanjur are kept almost in every monastery in Mongolia.Mongolian Kanjur has been translated from Tibetan.

The language of the Kanjur is Classical Mongolian. The Mongolian Kanjur is a source of providing a cultural identity to Mongolia.

National Mission for Manuscripts

The National Mission for Manuscripts was launched in February 2003 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, with the mandate of documenting, conserving and disseminating the knowledge preserved in the manuscripts.

One of the objectives of the mission is to publish rare and unpublished manuscripts so that the knowledge enshrined in them is spread to researchers, scholars and general public at large.

Under this scheme, reprinting of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur has been taken up by the Mission.

It is expected that all the volumes will be published by March, 2022. This work is being carried out under the supervision of eminent Scholar Prof. Lokesh Chandra.