Nagarjuna Institute
In collaboration with the Nagarjuna Institute (NIBS), we began training young Nepalese to read and transcribe ancient scripts such as Prachalit, Ranjana and Bhujimol. This enables the young Nepalese not only to learn about and preserve their own culture, but also to earn a salary and gain valuable skills.
In July, the first 12 students graduated from our six-month Prachalit training course. The course was run by Professor Kiran Shakya, a scholar of ancient scripts at NIBS. Five women graduates were selected for ongoing transcription work. Our plan is to locate important Nepalese manuscript, here in Nepal and around the world and transcribe them at our center at NIBS.
In August 2019, our Sanskrit team began inputting the Lankavatara Sutra in Prachalit script. Most Sanskrit works in Nepal are written in rare, ancient scripts that are not well understood by Nepalese.