french institute of pondicherry_shaiva mss

7/30/2019 French Institute of Pondicherry_Shaiva MSS

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Indian scribes often write an anonymous verse such as this one at the end of a manuscript:Des scribes indiens ajoutent souvent un vers anonyme la fin dun manuscrit du type suivant :

M{E]O rvJ&E x Ji S n x {{ i

My back and waist and neck are strained, my fist is balled, my heads turned down.With difficulty this has been written! With care one should protect it.

Mon dos, ma taille, mon cou sont tendus, mon poing est serr, ma tte sincline.Cest avec peine que jai crit ceci : cest avec soin quil faut le protger.

Cover photos

Background: Leaves of RE 40042, a palm-leaf manuscript in Grantha

script containing a veritable library of Shaiva Sanskrit texts.

Recto: RE 10889, a devotees portable text of the Tevaram, a corpus of

Shaiva Tamil hymns of the first milennium CE.

Verso: RE 17666, a manuscript of the Bandhodaya, an elaborate poem

in Oriya script and language. A number of its verses are so contrived

that their letters may be arranged in pictures.

Booklet Design: N. RavichandranPhotos IFP/EFEO


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1Institut Franais de Pondichry Ecole franaise dExtrme-Orient

The Shaiva Manuscripts of Pondicherry

Two large collections of palm-leaf and papermanuscripts are preserved in the French

institutions of research in the South Indian Townof Pondicherry.

The major collection is that of the French Instituteof Pondicherry (IFP), which comprises 8187palm-leaf bundles, 360 paper codices and 1144recent paper transcripts (i.e. post 1950 papermanuscripts commissioned or copied by scholarsof the IFP). The manuscripts, which werecollected from the Tamil-speaking South of Indiafrom the 1950s, transmit texts of every branch ofpre-modern Indian learning. But nearly half of

the material relates to one of the major theistictraditions of India, that concerned with theworship of the God Shiva. It is in fact the largestcollection in the world of manuscripts of textsof the Shaiva Siddhanta, a religious traditionthat in the 10th century CE was spread rightacross the Indian subcontinent and beyond, asfar as Cambodia in the East. This tradition longrepresented the mainstream of tantric doctrineand worship and appears to have influencedevery Indian theistic tradition. Its surviving texts,the majority of them unpublished, range fromthe 6th century CE to the colonial period.

The 1662 palm-leaf bundles of the PondicherryCentre of the Ecole franaise dExtrme-Orient(EFEO) belong to a single collection from the farSouth of India (Tirunelveli District). More than athird of this material (about 650 bundles) relatesto the cult of the Hindu God Vishnu and at least60 of these Vaishnava manuscripts transmit textsthat have never been published.

In recognition of their importance, THE SHAIVAMANUSCRIPTS IN PONDICHERRY were in 2005 deemed

a UNESCO Memory of the World Collection,in response to an application jointly submitted bythe IFP, the EFEO and the National ManuscriptsMission (NMM), an initiative of the IndianGovernment.

The IFP has also been recognised by the NMMas a Manuscript Resource Centre. Thismeans that the IFP not only catalogues its ownmanuscripts, but isalso engaged in listingthe holdings of lesser-

known, uncataloguedcollections in thePondicherry area.

Les manuscrits shivates de Pondichry

Deux importantes collections de manuscrits surfeuilles de palme et sur papier sont conserves dans

les institutions franaises de recherche Pondichry(Inde du Sud).

La collection la plus importante est localise lInstitut Franais de Pondichry (IFP). Elle comporte8187 liasses de feuilles de palme, 360 codices surpapier et 1144 transcrits (manuscrits sur papierrecopis par des lettrs de lIFP partir des annes1950). Les manuscrits, collects dans le pays tamoul partir des annes 1950, couvrent tous les domainesde la science et des lettres de lInde prmoderne. Lamoiti dentre eux concernent cependant le culte

du dieu Shiva, une des traditions thistes les pluspuissantes de lInde : lIFP possde ainsi la plusimportante collection mondiale de manuscritssur le Shaiva Siddhanta, une tradition religieusequi, au Xme sicle de notre re, sest rpanduedans toute lInde et, au del du sous-continent, lEst jusquau Cambodge. Cette tradition religieusea constitu pendant plusieurs sicles le courantprincipal du tantrisme et a influenc toute la traditionthiste indienne. Les textes rassembls, dont la plusgrande partie reste indite, schelonnent entre leVIme sicle de notre re et lpoque coloniale.

Moins nombreux (1662 liasses de feuilles de palme)sont les manuscrits conservs au Centre pondichriende lEcole franaise dExtrme-Orient (EFEO). Ilsappartiennent une seule collection provenant delextrme Sud de lInde (district de Tirunelveli). Plusdun tiers (650 liasses environs) de ces manuscritsconcerne le dieu Vishnu. Une soixantaine de cesmanuscrits vishnoutes contiennent des textes indits.

Limportance desMANUSCRITS SHIVATESDEPONDICHRYa t reconnue en 2005 par lUNESCO :suite une demande conjointe de lIFP, lEFEOet la National Manuscripts Mission (agencegouvernementale indienne), cette collection estdsormais inscrite au Registre de la Mmoire duMonde de cette institution.

LIFP a par ailleurs t reconnu par la NMM comme Manuscript Resource Centre . A ce titre, lIFPcatalogue non seulement ses propres manuscrits,

mais recense galement lescollections non cataloguesde Pondichry et de sesenvirons.

Te Shaiva Manuscripts of Pondicherry


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IFP

* 8187 palm-leaf bundles* 360 old paper codices

* 1144 paper transcripts (C20th)

EFEO

* 1662 palm-leaf bundles

TOTAL = 11353

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus visit to the IFP on 16th

January 1955.


Collection of manuscripts at the French Institute

of Pondicherry (IFP) began in 1955 at theinstigation of its founder-director, Jean Filliozat,

who was at the time also Director of the Ecole

franaise dExtrme-Orient. His objective wasto explain the Hindu temple and what happens

in it. He focussed his attention on collecting

manuscripts of Shaiva texts, particularly those

of the Shaiva Siddhanta, the dominant Shaiva

religious school in the South of India. The first

reference to the existence of this school in theTamil-speaking South of India is an allusion

to the Shaiva initiation in the 8th century of aking of the Pallava dynasty to be found in an

inscription in the famous Kailasanatha temple in

Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu).

The agamas, the scriptures of the ShaivaSiddhanta, were in the 1950s neglected

and virtually unknown to most scholars of

Sanskrit in India as well as in the West. It is the

publications of the French institutions of research

in Pondicherry that have brought them to the

attention of the scholarly world.

History of the Collection

Histoire de la collection

Le Professeur Jean Filliozat a initi en 1955 la collectedes manuscrits de lInstitut Franais de Pondichry

alors quil assurait simultanment la direction delIFP et de lEFEO. Son objectif tait de mieuxcomprendre le temple hindou et sa vie intrieure.Son attention sest principalement focalise sur lesmanuscrits portant sur la tradition shivate et, toutparticulirement, lcole religieuse prdominante enInde du Sud : le Shaiva Siddhanta.

Les agamas, ou critures rvles du ShaivaSiddhanta, taient alors mal connues des sanskritistesoccidentaux et indiens. Cette collecte de manuscrits et

les travaux quils ont permis au sein des institutionsfranaises de recherche de Pondichry ont doncattir lattention du monde savant sur ces nombreuxtextes (le premier indice de lexistence de cette coleen pays tamoul est une inscription du VIIImesicle grave sur le fameux temple de Kailasanatha Kanchipuram,Tamil Nadu qui fait allusion linitiation shivate dun roi de la dynastie desPallava).

Les manuscrits rassembls dans nos institutions

proviennent de collections alors disperses chez desparticuliers et dans des temples et des monastresde toute lInde du Sud. Cette collecte doit beaucoupau Pandit N.R. Bhatt, aujourdhui connu pour sesditions rudites de textes shivates publis dans unecollection douvrages conjointement dits par lIFP etlEFEO.

Les manuscrits ont t offerts ou vendus par leurspropritaires dalors soucieux de voir dits, pourla premire fois, le corpus du Shaiva Siddhanta.

Il a cependant t ncessaire de commanditer descopies sur papier de certaines collections : les 1144transcrits sur papier datent ainsi de la deuxime



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The palm-leaf manuscripts were gathered fromthe private collections of temples, priests and

monasteries across South India. The principal

collector was Pandit N.R. Bhatt, who has since

become famous for his editions of Shaiva texts inthe Pondicherry indological series co-published

by the IFP and the EFEO.

Owners were prepared to part with their

manuscripts because they were eager to see the

corpus of scriptures of the Shaiva Siddhanta

published for the first time. But in some cases

modern copies had to be commissioned, and this

explains the large number (1144) of post-1950paper transcripts in the collection. The palm-leaf

manuscripts, few of which are dated, belong tothe eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Most of these codices are written in Granthascript, the script used by Tamilian Brahmins

for writing Sanskrit; others are in Malayalam,

Telugu, Nandinagari, Oriya and Tulu scripts.

The writing is incised in the leaves with a stylus;

ink is then rubbed over them and remains in the

incisions. The transcripts, however, are written inDevanagari script the script in which Sanskrit is

commonly printed today.

moiti du XXe sicle, alors que les manuscrits surfeuilles de palmes, qui sont rarement dats, ont tcrits aux XVIIIe et XIXe sicles.

La plupart des manuscrits sur feuilles de palmesont crits en grantha, lcriture quutilisent lesbrahmanes tamouls pour transcrire le sanskrit ;

certains autres sont crits en malayalam, tlougou,nandinagari, oriya et toulou. Ces manuscrits sonten fait gravs, les incisions effectues avec une aiguilleayant ensuite t imprgnes dune encre noire. Lestranscrits sont pour leur part crits en devanagari,criture le plus souvent utlise de nos jours pour ladiffusion de la langue sanskrite.


Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Jean Filliozat, the then

Director of the EFEO and the founder-director of the IFP.

Pandit N.R. Bhatt (EFEO).

Detail of RE. 43228, a Sanskrit manuscript in Tulu script

transmitting chapters from various Shaiva scriptures.

This bundle has been designated a National Treasure

(Vijnananidhi) by the National Mission for Manuscripts.


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Various palm-leaf manuscripts of the collection. Towards the top, just left of centre, is a writing stylus.


What does the Collection Contain?

Each codex consists of a bundle of palm-leavestied together. The following rough breakdown

of subject matter gives the approximate numberof codices per subject. Note that this is not thenumber of texts, because the majority of thecodices transmit several texts.

Canonical texts of Shaivism (Shaivagama, alsoknown as Tantra ; 1900 codices)

Mantra and Ritual manuals (1890 codices) Devotional Hymns and Legends of Holy places

(Stotra/Mahatmya) (1360 codices) Astrology (430 codices) The literary epic about Rama (the Ramayana)

(190 codices) Other Sanskrit epics, myths, legends

(Purana; 230 codices) Traditional South Indian medicine

(200 codices) Veda (190 codices) Literary works in Sanskrit (160 codices) Tamil devotional literature (1350 codices)

Contenu de la collection

Les manuscrits sont constitus de liasses de feuilles depalme. Leur rpartition par grand domaine littraire

est la suivante (il est noter quil ne sagit pas dunombre de textes puisque chaque manuscrit peutcontenir des textes portant sur diffrents domaines):

Textes canoniques du shivasme (agamas,tantras ; 1900 liasses)

Mantras et manuels de rites (1890 liasses) Hymnes dvotionnels et mythes topographiques

(1360 liasses) Astrologie (430 liasses) pope littraire de Rama (Ramayana ;

190 liasses) Autres popes en sanskrit et mythes (Purana ;

230 liasses) Textes mdicinaux de lInde mridionale

(200 liasses) Veda (190 liasses) Belles lettres sanskrites (160 liasses) Hymnes dvotionnels en tamoul (1350 liasses)



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Lemon-grass oil is applied to the leaves, after carefulbrushing to remove insects.


Preserving the Collection

South Indian palm-leaves used for writing are of

two types, a thin papery leaf (talipot) that can,in optimal conditions, be preserved for centuries(some Nepalese manuscripts of this type survivefrom the ninth century), and a thicker, stiffer,usually smaller leaf found in the South and ofwhich we are aware of no surviving examplesmore than three centuries old. Most of thePondicherry manuscripts are of the latter typeand were written after 1750.

Whatever their date, the manuscripts collectedare extremely fragile, both by nature and because

many have suffered (often before being broughtto Pondicherry) from the ravages of insect larvae,which thrive in the warm and humid SouthIndian climate.

Two measures have therefore been taken toslow the pace of this damage: (i) the leaves areregularly brushed and painted with lemon-grassoil, which repels insects and also keeps the leaves

Conservation de la collection

Les feuilles de palme employes pour les manuscritsde lInde du Sud sont de deux types : des feuillesappeles talipot , fines et souples comme dupapier, qui peuvent, dans des conditions optimales,tre conserves trs longtemps (quelques manuscritsnpalais de ce type datent du IXe sicle) ; desfeuilles plus paisses et rigides, de plus petite taille,originaires du Sud de lInde, moins rsistantes autemps. Ces dernires ayant t utilises pour laplupart de la collection, la grande majorit de cesmanuscrits est postrieure 1750.

Les manuscrits collects sont, en tout tat de cause,

extrmement fragiles, par nature et en raison de leurdtrioration (souvent ancienne) par diverses larves etinsectes dont le climat de lInde du Sud (tempratureet taux dhumidit levs) accentue la prolifration.

Deux mesures ont donc t prises pour ralentir cettedgradation : (i) dune part, un brossage et uneapplication rguliers dhuile de citronelle, laquellepermet la fois dloigner les insectes et de rendre


Details of a palm-leaf manuscript of a Sanskrit Shaiva text written in Grantha script, showing string holes and the

tracks left by roaming insect larvae.

The palm-leaf bundles are closely stacked in glass-fronted teak shelves in the air-conditioned Jean

Filliozat Manuscript Room of the IFP.


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Identifying the texts calls for erudition and great

patience.

Cataloguing

Cataloguing the manuscripts began even as theywere collected. Identifying what they contain isa long process. A single palm-leaf bundle maycontain dozens of texts, all engraved with tinyletters in scriptio continua (without word-breaks),and typically without space between the textsand without rubrication of titles or chapter-

colophons. Cataloguing therefore requirescareful reading by someone conversant both witha wide range of Sanskrit literature and with thescripts used.

Although we have a complete hand-list thatrecords the titles of the works identified in allthe manuscripts of the collection, and although4 volumes of a descriptive catalogue have beenpublished (1986, 1987, 1990, and 2002), whichcover 475 manuscripts, a very large number oftexts have not yet been identified.

Le cataloguage de la collection a dbut pratiquementds la collecte. Il sagit dun travail de longue haleinepuisquune seule liasse de feuilles de palme peutcontenir plusieurs douzaines de textes gravs encaractres minuscules, sans espaces entre les mots,voire entre les textes, et dont les intituls des chapitresne se distinguent pas, le plus souvent, ni par la taille

des caractres ni par aucun autre signe distinctif(couleur par exemple). La lecture minutieuse de cestextes ne peut donc tre effectue que par de raresspcialistes de la littrature sanskrite et des crituresutilises pour la transcrire.

Bien quune liste complte des titres des ouvragesidentifis ait t dresse et que quatre volumes duncatalogue descriptif couvrant 475 manuscrits aient tpublis (en 1986,1987,1990 et 2002) de trs nombreuxtextes restent donc dcouvrir.

Cataloguage de la collection

les feuilles plus souples et donc moins fragiles lors deleur manipulation ; (ii) dautre part, le regroupementen 2003 de lensemble des manuscrits de lIFP dansune salle climatise en permanence, ce qui permet de

stabiliser la temprature et lhumidit aux environs de25C et de 55%, respectivement.

PARAMPARA - the trial CD of our catalogue-database

integrated with digital images of 66 texts, producedwith the assistance of the AMM Foundation.


Making the best use of the collection

The partially catalogued collection of manuscriptsand transcripts has served as the basis for manypublications. Many of the best known of thesehave appeared in the series co-published by theIFP and the EFEO. They include first editions oftexts in Sanskrit and in Tamil, translations, studiesand works on iconography and archaeology. Acatalogue of these publications may be found onthe website of the IFP.

Valorisation de la collection

Les manuscrits et transcrits collects et partiellementcatalogus ont t la base de nombreuses publications.Nombre dtudes, parmi les plus remarquables, ontt dites conjointement par lIFP et lEFEO. Ellesconcernent notamment ldition critique de textesfondamentaux crits en sanskrit ou en tamoul, des

traductions et des tudes portant sur liconographie etlarchologie. Le catalogue de ces publications peut treconsult sur le site WEB de lIFP .

supple and so less liable to break when handled;(ii) in 2003, all the manuscripts of the IFP werebrought together into a room that is kept air-conditioned at all times, in order to maintain

stable temperature and humidity (25C and 55%respectively).



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Our ambition: to make this preciouscollection more widely known

The French Institute and the Pondicherry Centre

of the EFEO hold a manuscript collection ofinestimable value. The IFP has the particularhonour of housing the largest collection in theworld of manuscripts of texts of the ShaivaSiddhanta. Being included in 2005 on UNESCOsMemory of the World register is the mostprecious acknowledgement of its importance thatthe collection could hope to attain. It is now up toour institutions to make the collection better knownand to give access to it to those who wish to makeuse of its riches.

First of all, we must of course continue thecataloguing. The task is a huge one! Given thedifficulties that reading the manuscripts presents(for which, see above) and the very limited humanresources that our institutions have at theirdisposal, it could take very many years.

Secondly, it is imperative that we produce copies ofthe manuscripts, both as a measure of conservation(for we can only slow down their disintegrationand not stop it entirely), and also in order to makethem more widely accessible: because of their

extreme fragility, the original manuscripts canonly be consulted by a small number of scholars,working on site and in controlled conditions.

LInstitut Franais et le Centre EFEO de Pondichry

sont donc dpositaires dune inestimable collection demanuscrits. LIFP a tout particulirement lhonneurde dtenir la plus grande collection au monde demanuscrits sur le Shaiva Siddhanta. Linscriptionen 2005 au registre de la Mmoire du Monde delUNESCO est la plus prcieuse des reconnaissancesquil tait permis desprer pour cette collection. Ilrevient maintenant nos institutions de mieux lafaire connatre et de permettre tous ceux qui lesouhaiteraient den exploiter toute la richesse.

Il sagit tout dabord den poursuivre linventaire.La tche est immense ! Compte tenu de la difficult dchiffrer ces manuscrits (voir plus haut) et desfaibles ressources humaines dont disposent nosinstitutions, de longues annes pourraient trencessaires.

Il est ensuite impratif de raliser des copies de cettecollection pour pallier leur lente dgradation (ralentiemais pas stoppe), dune part, et afin de mettre ceriche patrimoine la disposition du plus grand

nombre, dautre part : en raison de leur extrmefragilit, ces manuscrits ne peuvent actuellement treconsults que par un nombre trs rduits drudits,sur place et dans des conditions trs contrles.

Notre ambition : faire connatrelargement cette prcieuse collection

Pandit Sambandhashivacharya (IFP) has decades of

cataloguing experience.

The air-conditioned conservation room at the

Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO.



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After rejecting the option of microfilming(expensive equipment, slow processing, and themicrofilms present conservation problems of theirown) and that of flat-bed scanning, which we tried

for a certain period and found also too slow, wedecided to digitise the collection using a digitalcamera, which gives rapid results of high quality.It will be possible to put these digital images ona server so that they can be consulted over theInternet. This digitising is already underway: acatalogue and images of the 1144 transcripts willbe accessible online by the end of 2006, thanks tothe collaboration of the Muktabodha IndologicalResearch Institute (MIRI). We will then have totake in hand the digitisation of the palm-leaves.

Speeding up the cataloguing and digitisationof the collection require human and financialresources that our institutions do not possess.We will therefore be appealing to the generosity ofsponsors to help us realise this ambitious two-foldundertaking.

Aprs avoir limin le principe du microfilmage(quipement onreux, technique lente et conservationdlicate des microfilms) et pratiqu pendant uncertain temps un scannage plat (mthode galement

longue), il a t dcid de numriser lensemble de cesmanuscrits au moyen dun appareil photographiquenumrique (reproduction rapide et fidle). Les imagesralises pourront ainsi tre stockes dans un serveuret tre consultes par internet. Cette numrisation adbut : les 1144 transcrits et leur catalogue pourronttre consults par Internet la fin de lanne 2006grce une collaboration tablie avec le MuktabodhaIndological Research Institute (MIRI). Restera alors engager la numrisation des manuscrits sur feuillesde palme.

Lacclration du catalogage comme la numrisationdes manuscrits demandent des ressources (humaineset financires) dont ne disposent pas nos institutions.Aussi sera-il fait appel la gnrosit de sponsors pour mener bien cette double et ambitieuseentreprise.

Dr Jean-Pierre MullerDirector of the IFP

Dr Dominic GoodallHead of the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO

Dr Jean-Pierre MullerDirecteur de lIFP

Dr Dominic Goodall

Responsable du Centre EFEO de Pondichry

Our renowned indological series now boasts

more than 100 titles.



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french institute of pondicherry_shaiva mss

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