# Ajayan | The grand initiative to immortalize the timeless treasures of Malayalam literature through archiving and digitization has taken a momentous stride with the arrival of the New Year. This visionary pursuit, designed to place classical Malayalam works at the fingertips of the world, blossomed into a triumph on January 1 to coincide with the International Public Domain Day. Two groundbreaking initiatives, launched merely two months ago, have now reaped resounding success, ushering in a new dawn for the accessibility of literary heritage.
On January 1, a collection of the works of nuclear engineer, educationist and Marxian philosopher MP Parameswaran was officially entrusted to WikiMalayalam's Wikisource for digitization. Unshackled by copyright benefits and with the unwavering conviction that knowledge belongs to all, Parameswaran granted his consent to make his literary legacy freely accessible to all. At a ceremony at his residence, he handed over the consent to WikiGranthasala administrator Manoj Karingamadam, who has been championing this transformative initiative for years.
The digitisation work is being carried out by the Sahaya Digital Conservation Foundation, a non-profit company Manoj launched in 2022. It was formed with a vision of open knowledge and open data and to have an institutional framework for the preservation and accessibility of rare, precious works.
Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad committee member P Muraleedharan, Manoj Kumar, Wikimedians of Kerala UserGroup Coordinator Ranjith CG, Sahaya Digital Conservation Foundation director Jinoy Tom Jacob, Ranjith Panicker, Subin KS, Krishnan and Leena were present at the ceremony. Digitized books will be made available on Wikimedia Commons and Parishad Archive. A few have been uploaded on https://ml.wikisource.org/wiki/Vairudhyatmaka_BhowthikaVadam
Manoj told Metro Vaartha that the ambitious initiative to archive the literary legacy of illustrious Ayurveda physician late Raghavan Tirumulpad was also progressing in full swing.
The second triumph was Pallikootathilekku, bringing the nostalgia of yesteryears back to life by digitizing school textbooks of the past, making them freely accessible to all. Launched on November 1, this two-month-long initiative breathed new life into educational treasures that once shaped countless minds. Akhil Krishnan S, an IT engineer leading the mission, told Metro Vaartha that 15 of these timeless books have now found a new home in WikiGranthasala, a digital sanctuary devoted to preserving Malayalam works that have transcended the confines of copyright.
The initiative was in the form of a contest https://wscontest.toolforge.org/c/240 laying stress on the essential role of community volunteers in the digitization process. The Pallikootathilekku initiative harnessed the power of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract text from images to accurately interpret and digitize content. However, the process is far from flawless, as errors can easily creep in, demanding multiple rounds of careful scrutiny and corrections to ensure that these invaluable cultural records retain their authenticity, mirroring the integrity of the original works.
The digitized collection boasts an eclectic mix of literary gems, ranging from the first standard Malayalam textbook of 1926 to History of Travancore, Subhashitaratnakaram by KC Kesava Pillai and an authoritative treatise on Kathakali.
