Preservation System

Saiva Manuscripts in Pondicherry.

The palm leaf manuscript collection at the French Institute of Pondicherry is stored in a sealed, climate controlled room in specially crafted wooden cupboards to ensure their longevity and safety in the tropical climate of South India.

The Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry refers to the largest collection in the world of manuscripts of the Saiva Siddhanta, within a collection of 11,000 manuscripts that mainly concern the religion and worship of the Hindu God Siva. This was a major current of Hinduism, was spread across the Indian subcontinent and beyond, as far as Cambodia in the East in the 10th century. It long represented the mainstream of Tantric doctrine and worship and appears to have influenced every Indian theistic tradition. This collection provides much of the dwindling evidence remaining today for scholars to reconstruct a chapter in the religious annals of humanity.