Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat talks about era of cultural renaissance at an event in New Delhi

India is going through an “era of cultural renaissance”, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Thursday (September 11, 2025) and asserted that the Gyan Bharatam Mission has been envisioned to preserve the country’s manuscript heritage.

Under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, 25 clusters, 20 regional centres and 10 centres of excellence are envisioned to be established in a “hub-and-spoke model” across the country, the Minister said at an international conference hosted at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

The mission aims to preserve “our manuscript heritage for the coming generations”, Mr. Shekhawat said.

He also said that Indians must take pride their cultural roots, and technology should be used to disseminate the traditional knowledge embedded in India’s manuscripts.

The three-day conference helmed by the Ministry of Culture brings together scholars, experts, researchers and various eminent speakers to discuss and deliberate on conservation, preservation, digitisation and other aspects related to manuscript heritage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a session on day two of the event.

“Our country is going through an era of cultural renaissance,” Mr. Shekhawat said.

In his address, he also said that technology can help in translating “our manuscript heritage into AI-readable format” for greater dissemination.