Videos on Manuscript Preservation Work in Kathmandu

Bidur Bhattarai (CSMC Hamburg) has produced a series of videos highlighting the work at the Āśā Saphūkuthi in Kathmandu with support from Hidden Stories and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), Hamburg. You can watch some of these videos below, view more, and learn about the series “Preserving the Written Cultural Heritage of Nepal” on the CSMC site here.

Video on how to properly wrap a pothi-style manuscript in a protective cloth wrapper. This is an important practical and spiritual practice, central to the traditional care of these texts. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (3 mins).

Video on the care of a large accordion-style Kundalini Yogapurusa Manuscript, 466 cm long when unfolded. Written in Devanāgarī script in the Kathmandu Valley, likely in a 19th-century Buddhist workshop, it has been kept in the Dinesh Ram Shrestha family (Bhotahiti, Kathmandu) for three generations. The manuscript is backed with yellow orpiment-painted paper, which acts as a protective layer to keep pests away. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg. (6 ½ mins.)

Video on the protective use of snakeskin in Nepalese manuscripts. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (7 mins).

Video on the preservation of a Buddhist nīlapatra Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā manuscript. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (6 ½ mins).

Video on the cleaning of manuscripts to remove substances such as dust, mould, insect and rodent-related residue that can damage manuscript folios or transfer to other folios during use. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (2 ½ mins).

Videos on a Buddhist sutra for protection - a Pañcarakṣā Sutra manuscript at Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto

Pañcarakṣā (pronounce: "pancha-rak-sha") means “five protectresses” or “five protector goddesses.” This particular Pañcarakṣā Sūtra belongs to the Newari Buddhist tradition in Nepal and protects users from a range of illnesses and calamities including snake bites, defense from torments of hell, safety during sea journeys, and protection against pestilence - particularly appropriate for a global Covid pandemic. Join Jinah Kim (Harvard University), Alexander O’Neill (SOAS, University of London), and Sarah Richardson (University of Toronto) as they explore the production and use of this living text in which the Pañcarakṣā are embodied and are called upon by those seeking protection. These videos were produced for the symposium “Hidden Stories: Global History, Local Networks,” which took place Febrary 22-23, 2022, at the Aga Khan Museum in conjunction with the Hiddes Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads exhibition.

A brief overview of the Pañcarakṣā Sūtra. Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (11 minutes).

Conversation about the Pañcarakṣā Sūtra Video produced by Dr. Bidur Bhattarai, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg (1 hour).