KATHMANDU, AUGUST 9
Archive Nepal, in partnership with UNESCO and with support from the Government of Japan, has digitised more than 30 rare and endangered Newa manuscripts dating back 200 to 800 years.
The manuscripts were digitised under UNESCO’s Memory of the World framework as part of an initiative launched in November 2025 and completed in August 2026. More than 50 volunteers were involved in the project, including young people learning to read their ancestral scripts.
The manuscripts, held at four sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including private collections and community temples in Patan, have been converted into open-access, machine-readable digital records on Wikisource.
The project was formally concluded on Saturday with an event titled ‘Preserving the Past, Empowering the Future: Manuscript Preservation in the Digital Age’ in Kathmandu. The event featured a physical exhibition, a panel discussion and a live demonstration of manuscript transcription and digitisation.
Visitors were able to view manuscripts written in Ranjana, Bhujimol and Prachalit scripts. The panel discussion brought together manuscript custodians, a Nepal Bhasa script expert and representatives of Archive Nepal to discuss the preservation of Newa documentary heritage.
UNESCO Representative to Nepal Jaco du Toit acknowledged the role of families, temples, monasteries, guthis and local institutions in safeguarding the manuscripts over generations.
The project has combined traditional custodianship with trained volunteers and open digital platforms, with organisers saying the approach could be replicated to preserve other endangered scripts and collections in Nepal.
The digitised manuscripts are now available to the public through Wikisource and Archive Nepal’s digital library, allowing researchers, students and community members to access and search the texts.