At the Mini Auditorium in Science City, Kolkata, the Asiatic Society, Kolkata—one of Asia’s oldest and most esteemed educational institutions, founded in 1784, commemorated its 243rd Foundation Day in front of national and international dignitaries, academics, and cultural leaders.

Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Minister of Culture & Tourism, Government of India, was the Chief Guest at the celebration.

Dr. Sarita Boodhoo, a social activist, writer, journalist, and recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2025, gave the Foundation Day Oration. Her talk on “Geet Gawai – The Chord and Spirit of the Girmitiyas” emphasized the close cultural ties that exist between India and its diaspora around the world.

Lieutenant Colonel Anant Sinha, Administrator of The Asian Society, Kolkata, hosted the event. Under his direction, the organization has started a comprehensive program of digital transformation, scientific conservation, and international involvement.

The official national unveiling of ANUKRITI & VIDHVANIKA, two next-generation heritage platforms being built together by The Asiatic Society, IIT Kharagpur, and C-DAC Kolkata, is a key component of the Foundation Day program.

Under the direction of Lt Col Anant Sinha, ANUKRITI is a cutting-edge heritage-science project that was created in partnership with the IPCV Laboratory at IIT Kharagpur. It uses a mix of multispectral photography, 3D surface mapping, pigment and material analysis, and sophisticated fabrication techniques to scientifically restore badly damaged manuscripts and pictures.

In contrast to traditional digitization, ANUKRITI aims to bring back the tactile sensation of manuscripts, allowing museum-quality copies to be generated so that delicate originals can be securely maintained while their shape and appearance are made available for research, displays, and teaching.

Concurrently, VIDHVANIKA is being built as a national platform for manuscript intelligence driven by artificial intelligence. Across a variety of ancient and medieval scripts, it will facilitate automated transcription, transliteration, translation, metadata creation, and scholarly search. VIDHVANIKA will significantly increase access to India’s manuscript history for academics and institutions worldwide by transforming scanned manuscript images into machine-readable and searchable knowledge.

The Foundation Day programme also witnessed:

• The exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, and IIT Kharagpur, Visva Bharti Shantiniketan, & CDACKolkata.
• The launch of the new website of The Asiatic Society.
• The release of the book “A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Collection of The Asiatic Society, Vol. IV; Philosophy Manuscript”.

Priyanka Dutta