Media & Insights
Dispatches from the archive.
Essays, lectures, films, and field notes from the scholars, conservators, and engineers of the Centre.
Featured · Documentary
Forty-Two Thousand Voices: Inside the University of Calcutta's Manuscript Vault
A forty-minute film following the conservators, scholars, and AI engineers who tend to one of South Asia’s richest documentary collections — and ask what it means to read across seven centuries.
Film · 42 min · 2026
Recent writing.
Updated monthly
Essay
Reading birch bark: the codicology of Kashmiri manuscripts
May 2026 · 9 min read
Field Notes
Lemon-grass oil and the longevity of palm leaf
April 2026 · 6 min read
Research
Sustainable wisdom: ecology in the Arthaśāstra
March 2026 · 12 min read
Technology
Teaching machines to read Grantha script
February 2026 · 8 min read
Interview
On translation as restoration, a conversation with the Director
January 2026 · 14 min read
Essay
The colophon as autobiography: scribes who left their names
December 2025 · 7 min read
Lectures & Events
Coming this season.
07 · 11 · 2026
The Future of Indic Digital Humanities
Centre Annual Lecture · Hall 1, Senate House
22 · 11 · 2026
Critical Editions in a Post-Print Age
Workshop · Hybrid (in-person & online)
14 · 12 · 2026
Conservation Roundtable: Eastern Indian Repositories
Closed session · By application