'Need to reclaim our diverse civilizational heritage': ICCR DG Nandini Singla on India's mathematical contributions

New Delhi [India], September 5 : K Nandini Singla, the Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, gave a call to reclaim India's rich intellectual traditions during the inauguration of an exhibition showcasing India's mathematical contributions.

The exhibition, organised by the India International Centre on Thursday drew in the sharpest minds from across the world in the fields of mathematics, history and culture to talk about the role of manuscripts in promoting our scientific heritage.

Speaking to ANI, K. Nandini Singla highlighted how people are not aware of India's contributions and the need of the hour to showcase them to the world.

"Very few people realise our intellectual traditions are as rich and old as our culture. In many ways, mathematics was born in India and spread through the Arab trade during ancient times. It is time for us to reclaim our rightful place in the world and to showcase our traditions. This is a wonderful step in this direction," she said.

She also mentioned the unique ways being used by the ICCR to popularise novel Indian cultural elements to the younger generations. Along with the use of social media, Singla said that ICCR has started an initiative by the name "ICCR ki Khoj" (Discoveries of ICCR), showcasing unsung heroes in India who are promoting and preserving Indian culture in their own ways.

"We are highlighting their stories," Singla emphasised.

Reflecting upon EAM Jaishankar's inaugural remarks, where he called for Atmanirbharta, Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told ANI, "Atmanirbharta is linked to national self-confidence... One of the objectives of this kind of exhibition is to make people aware of how rich their own traditions and Indian knowledge systems are... This enables the people to relate to the rest of the world with a certain degree of assurance and confidence..."

World-renowned mathematician and a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2015, Manjul Bhargava threw light on India's indispensable contributions to mathematics, which include the number system, zero, quadratic equations, negative numbers, the first exact formula of Pi, sine and cosine, among others.

In conversation with ANI, he suggested that the history of mathematics should be incorporated into pedagogy to help students learn mathematics more effectively. "When facts are taught, there should also be given history. One learns the trajectory of thinking how a concept developed...We need to bring back the creative process".

He noted that these interdisciplinary connections would make the process of learning mathematics more engaging.

"Lots of fundamental discoveries of mathematics happened in India, which have influenced global mathematics. The idea of zero came from yoga- to achieve 'shunyata'. So the ideas of mathematics came from social science, philosophy," Bhargava said.

MA Alwar, the Director of Samskriti Foundation, whose 50 manuscripts, which had been brought all the way from Mysore, were on display at the exhibition, toldhow India has been a treasure house of knowledge, and the palm leaf manuscripts being a documentary evidence of it.

"These are where Indian knowledge systems are housed. The manuscripts here are around 500 years old and have survived the vagaries of nature and foreign invasions," Alwar said.

He noted that there is a need to train manuscriptologists for deciphering the plethora of wisdom available in these manuscripts.

"Mathematics constitutes 1/10th of the subject of manuscripts available in India... The most cherished treasure of manuscripts is displayed here," he said.

Alwar called for people to join in the exploration of knowledge.

At the event, internationally acclaimed musicologist Prof Deepak Paramashivan toldhow music has always been interwoven with mathematics. He hailed the exhibition, calling it "a great initiative to know our great past, and what can be retained and perpetuated to posterity".

On Thursday, EAM Jaishankar lauded the exhibition showcasing India's rich history of mathematics, which was presented through hundreds of years-old manuscripts.

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The India International Centre is hosting an International conference on South Asia's Manuscript Heritage and Mathematical Contributions till Friday.

The exhibition, which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar inaugurated, showcases the rich mathematical contributions of India, featuring works of Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara II, among others.

The SAMHiTA conference will continue till Friday and will feature talks on the historical development of mathematics and exchanges with knowledge systems across Asia and beyond.

It is in collaboration with the Centre for Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems and Skills, IIT Bombay, with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Exhibition would be on display from September 5-14 at the India International Centre.

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