US aid to help oriental research

The Oriental Research Institute of Mysore University, on Tuesday, got a financial boost when it received $50,000 for renovating the 19th century building that has over 75,000 ancient documents, including Kautilya’s Arthashastra.
 
While handing over the cheque to the university vice-chancellor, Prof VG Talwar, Consul General of United State Consulate in Chennai Jennifer McIntyre, said, “The US government has donated nearly $26 million to preserve culture and heritage in 100 countries around the world. Of this, 640 projects are for conserving culture and heritage.”

She expressed satisfaction that the US funding is being used efficiently for supporting a wide range of activities such as restoration of historical buildings, assessment and conservation of museums, preservation of archeological sites and documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques.

“During my stay in India, I had the opportunity to study Indian culture and traditions and had been fascinated by the 1000-year old cultural heritage of the country,” she said.

Rich tributes were also paid to Dr R Shama Shastry, who translated and published Arthashastra by studying the manuscripts available in the Institute, which had showcased India’s supremacy in the art of the state craft and economics as early as 11th century.