NAMSAI, 16 Aug: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Saturday launched the first Tai Khamti heritage archive website and released the book, 'Lik Loka Ping-Nyep', marking an important milestone in the collective efforts to preserve and strengthen the rich cultural and literary heritage of the Tai Khamti community.

Speaking on the occasion, Mein said the initiative was not merely a digital intervention but an important step towards preserving the language, literature, manuscripts, traditional knowledge and collective memory of the Tai Khamti people for generations to come.

"The Tai Khamti community possesses a rich manuscript covering Buddhist philosophy, history, folklore, traditional medicine, customary laws, language, literature and indigenous knowledge systems. These manuscripts are living records of the wisdom and intellectual heritage of the ancestors and require systematic preservation," he said.

Under Phase-I, 471 rare Tai Khamti manuscripts comprising 28,264 pages have been digitally preserved. The digital archive will enable scholars, researchers, students and community members to access, study, catalogue, transcribe and translate these valuable texts, while also opening new avenues of research in Tai Khamti history, language, Buddhism, traditional medicine and indigenous knowledge.

The DCM also emphasized the importance of preserving the Tai Khamti language and script. He informed that the traditional script has been modified into a tonal script and 37 Tai Khamti teachers have been appointed to teach Tai Khamti as a third language in schools from Class I onwards.

"In addition, 118 educated youths have received vocational training in the Tai Khamti script and Pali language and will be engaged to teach these languages in viharas, monasteries and private schools," he said.

Mein appealed to the revered Bhikkhu Sanghas to make viharas centres of learning for the Tai Khamti language and script alongside spiritual and monastic education. He urged families to encourage at least one child to attend classes in Viharas to learn the community's language and tonal script, stressing that such efforts are essential to protect the age-old literature and language from extinction.

He said that the project is being implemented in phases, with Phase-II focusing on scholarly curation, translation and print revival of selected texts; Phase-III on manuscript authentication and large-scale field digitisation through an app; Phase-IV on audio documentation and language preservation; and Phase-V on documenting and ethically preserving indigenous traditional medicine knowledge.

The DCM further informed that an audio recording studio has been established at the Centre for Tai Khamti Language & Folk Culture at Chongkham, where work has commenced to record chants, oral traditions and spoken language. He said that the documentation of oral traditions complements manuscript digitisation by preserving both the written and living heritage of the community.

Emphasising community participation, he said that while the government can facilitate and support such initiatives, communities must lead the preservation of their own heritage. He lauded the participation of Bhikkhus, elders, scholars and youth and particularly acknowledged the efforts to train young members of the community in digitisation and archival techniques, who, he said, would become the future custodians of this heritage.

Mein hoped the Tai Khamti Heritage Digitisation Project would emerge as a model for community-led heritage preservation across Arunachal Pradesh and the country, demonstrating how technology can be used to preserve and strengthen connections with one's roots.

"We are not simply preserving old manuscripts. We are carrying the wisdom of our ancestors into the future," he said.

The Tai Khamti manuscripts documentation & digitization has been conducted by the Tai Khamti Manuscripts Documentation Committee (TKMDC), in collaboration with the Nanda Talukdar Foundation under the aegis of the Tai Khamti Heritage & Literature Society (TKHLS).

Namsai MLA Chau Zingnu Namchoom, former MLA Pinthika Namchoom, Tax & Excise Commissioner CR Khampa, DC Lobsang Tsering, monks and community elders were also present on the occasion. [DCM's PR Cell]