The first Tai Khamti heritage archive website was launched and the book Lik Loka Ping-Nyep released with the aim of preserving the Tai Khamti language, literature, manuscripts, traditional knowledge and collective memory for generations to come.

Documentation is a long way towards preservation, as the Tai Khamti community already possesses a rich manuscript heritage covering Buddhist philosophy, history, folklore, traditional medicine, customary laws, language, literature and indigenous knowledge systems.

So far, 471 rare Tai Khamti manuscripts, comprising 28,264 pages, have reportedly been digitally preserved. The digital archive will enable scholars, researchers, students and community members to access, study, catalogue, transcribe and translate the valuable texts, as envisaged.

The process is ongoing, with more in the pipeline, focusing on scholarly curation, translation and print revival; manuscript authentication and large-scale field digitisation; audio documentation and language preservation; and documenting and ethically preserving indigenous traditional medicine knowledge.

An audio recording studio has been established at the Centre for Tai Khamti Language & Folk Culture in Chongkham to record chants, oral traditions and spoken language. Such initiatives are the need of the hour, as these are critical to preserving the community's knowledge and heritage.

Documentation is critical to ensuring that this knowledge is preserved and passed on to future generations.

Such initiatives should be adopted by all the communities as well, so that their rich cultural, literary and traditional knowledge is also documented and preserved. The effort should be expanded across the state to ensure that the diverse heritage of Arunachal Pradesh is systematically documented and preserved for future generations.