Fri. 10. 06. 2022
09:15- 10:45 Hrs. (CEST Germany)
4:15-5:45 pm (JST Japan)

Online
━ ZOOM Link
Meeting ID: 826 6024 3111
Passcode: pothi

Poster

Manuscriptology and Digital Humanities
Co-organized with Otani University Collection Buddhist Manuscript Research Project, Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute, Otani University, Kyoto

▍ Presentation of the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute

Dr. Borayin Larios (University of Vienna)

Thousands (if not millions) of ancient manuscripts, written on palm leaves, wooden folios, pre-modern paper, and cloth are disintegrating due to contact with the elements and poor storage conditions across India. Other texts are available only in remote collections and therefore largely inaccessible for study. Therefore, Muktabodha Indological Research Institute (MIRI) employs the innovative use of digital information technology to preserve and make accessible to scholars and seekers worldwide the scriptural and philosophical genius of India through its online Digital Library. Over the last two decades, MIRI has created a vast online digital library, which is utilized by scholars around the world. Over 2,600 manuscripts have been digitally preserved which, together with many searchable e-texts, are made freely available to Indologists, scholars of religion, and practitioners worldwide through its library.

This session will present the history and give an overview of the digital library and its three distinct collections. We will also learn about future MIRI projects and students will learn about and how to access and use the material of this repository.

Borayin Larios teaches at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna, and is assistant to the Chair of South Asian Studies. He authored Embodying the Vedas: Traditional Vedic Schools of Contemporary Maharashtra (2017). Dr. Larios uses an interdisciplinary methodological approach, combining cultural anthropology, religious studies, and historical philology to understand the contemporary religious traditions of India. His current research project focuses on sacred space and popular religion in the city of Pune, Maharashtra. Together with Raphaël Voix, he put together the special issue, Wayside Shrines: Everyday Religion in Urban India, co-edited by SAMAJ and the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS).