Collection History

The collection comprises 14 paper manuscripts, including archival records authored by the heads of the monastic institution concerning administrative matters of Tekkē Maṭham, preserved in the form of a chronicle. All manuscripts are modern transcripts of earlier materials; however, the identity of the scribe, the date of copying, and the present whereabouts of the original manuscripts remain unknown.

Repository History

Tekkē Maṭham (from Malayalam, meaning 'Southern Monastery') is one of the four Hindu monasteries located in the city of Thrissur, which are believed to be established by the famous philosopher Śaṅkara, an expounder of the Advaita Vedānta doctrine. The monastery remains an active monastic institution. The inner maṭham temple is dedicated to Narasiṃha and the institution belongs to the Padmapāda lineage. Maṭham’s paramparā enumerates to date 85 ascetics in this monastic lineage. Ascetics affiliated with this institution customarily bear the name Bhūti, which is peculiar to the Keralan tradition and is not included among the 10 names of ascetics belonging to the Daśanāmī-Sampradāya. Over time, the institution developed a network of dependent branch maṭhas. This local monastic tradition traces its origins to approximately the 12th century.

Project Description

DiPiKA is a collaboration between the Vadakke Madham Brahmaswam (Vedic Research Centre) in Thrissur, the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, Paris and Pondicherry), the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML, Collegeville, Minnesota), and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), University of Hamburg. The project is funded by Arcadia for a period of five years. The project aims at preserving the rich and highly endangered written cultural heritage of Kerala. It surveys and digitizes palm-leaf and paper manuscripts kept in private collections across the state. The digitized collections will be fed into a digital repository, thus forming an online archive of Kerala manuscripts that will be openly accessible. This will facilitate its use by scholars and private owners, thereby also fostering further local initiatives to safeguard historical written artifacts.