UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register

• Context (PIB): Ramcharitmanas, Panchatantra, and Sahṛdayāloka-Locana enter ‘UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register.’
• The decision was taken at the 10^th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP), which was convened on May 7-8 in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.
• The MoW (Memory of the World) Program was launched by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992.
• MOWCAP was set up in 1998 during its First MOWCAP General Meeting.
• MOWCAP embraces the Asia Pacific region of 43 countries – one of five UNESCO regions across the globe.
• MOWCAP maintains an Asia/Pacific Regional Register of the MoW documentary heritage, a listing of the documentary heritage of influence in the Asia/Pacific region.
• MOWCAP is the authority that approves inscriptions on the Asia/Pacific MoW Register. It assesses nominations from members through its Asia/Pacific Register Subcommittee.
• Normally, inscriptions on the Asia/Pacific Register are made every two years.

Objectives of MOWCAP

• To promote, facilitate and monitor the MoW Program within the region, and to represent the region at the international level.
• It supports and facilitates nominations and encourages adequate representation of the region’s documentary heritage in the International MOW Register.
• It supports and complements the work of the National MoW Committees.

Other listings from India in MOW Register

• The I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection (1997)
• Archives of the Dutch East India Company (2003)
• Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry (2005)
• Rigveda (2007)
• laghukālacakratantrarājatikā (Vimalaprabhā) (2011)
• Tarikh-E-Khandan-E-Timuriyah (2011)
• Shāntinātha Charitra (2013)
• Gilgit Manuscript (2017)
• Maitreyayvarakarana (2017)

Ramcharitmanas

• Authored by 16^th century Indian poet Goswami Tulsidas, ‘Ramcharitmanas’ is an epic poem that narrates the life of Lord Rama.
• It is based on the Sanskrit epic Ramayana and is written in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi.
  • The choice to write in Awadhi reflects the Bhakti movement’s emphasis on devotion and the effort to make religious texts accessible to a wider audience.
• The poem is divided into seven chapters, or Kandas, that tell the story of Lord Ram from his birth to becoming the King of Ayodhya.
• The poem is also called Tulsikrit Ramayan (literally, The Ramayan composed by Tulsi or, loosely, The Ramayan of Tulsidas).

Panchatantra

• The Panchatantra is a collection of folktales and fables that were believed to have been originally written in Sanskrit by Vishnu Sharma more than 2500 years ago.
• It is a book of Niti, the wise conduct of life, written in the form of a chain of simple stories. Each story has a moral and philosophical theme, aiming to guide the reader in attaining success in life by understanding human nature.