Mysuru: The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, hosted a two-day workshop on ‘Framing Strategies for Documentation of Indian Knowledge Systems’ Terminology across Indian Languages’ on Aug. 13 and 14.

Organised by Bharatavani, CIIL, Mysuru, the workshop focused on developing a systematic framework for collecting, documenting, organising and presenting terminology associated with Indian Knowledge Systems across Indian languages.

The workshop commenced with the inaugural address by Prof. Basavaraja Kodagunti, Director, CIIL, who highlighted the close relationship between language, technical terminology and the evolution of knowledge disciplines. He observed that technical terms created, borrowed or coined in different languages to express concepts, theories and practices provide insights into the development of knowledge. He emphasised that studying such terminology can help understand knowledge disciplines through Indian languages.

Prof. Kodagunti pointed out that traditional knowledge relating various domains like agriculture and medicine exists in several Indian languages, while different communities and languages possess specialised knowledge relating to ecology, environment and coastal life.

Given the breadth of these traditions, he noted that it would not be possible to document everything at once and suggested beginning the initiative with classical languages before extending the methodology to other Indian languages.

He also underlined the need to identify the appropriate time periods, disciplines, texts and sources for documentation. Knowledge texts and commentaries, he noted, may contain new terminology, meanings and explanations that need to be considered. Changes in terminology across different periods and the conceptual development of disciplines were also identified as important considerations.

Highlighting the multilingual nature of the initiative, Prof. Kodagunti said, the framework would need to account for technical terms, concepts and theories shared across Indian languages.

He further stated that the proposed work would involve collecting and describing technical terms and presenting them through an online portal. He invited experts to share their knowledge and suggestions on the framework, methodology and structure, while noting that existing documentation models could provide useful inputs.

Earlier, Dr. L.R. Prem Kumar, Lecturer-cum-Junior Research Officer (L-JRO), CIIL and Coordinator of the workshop, welcomed the distinguished experts, scholars and participants and outlined the objectives of the workshop.

The workshop also examined appropriate sources, including classical texts and scholarly works, with attention to authenticity and consistency, while encouraging collaboration among institutions, subject experts, researchers, scholars and related centres to develop a practical documentation framework.

Several scholars and experts from across India participated in the scholarly discussions and deliberations, through online.

The experts included Prof. J. Sreenivasa Murthy, Vice-Chancellor, Srividya International University for Vedic Science, Florida, USA; Prof. R.V.S. Sundaram, former Professor & Director, IKS, University of Mysore; Prof. Prakash Chandra Pattnaik, former Professor, University of Delhi; Prof. T.S. Satyanath, former Professor, University of Delhi; Prof. Sreesylam Unnikrishnan, Professor, The Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode; Dr. B.V. Rajaram, Founder, Kalagangothri, Bengaluru; Dr. M. A. Alwar, Professor, Government Maharaja Sanskrit College, Mysuru and Dr. Bhav Sharma, Associate Professor, Indian Knowledge Systems, Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi.