(courtesy of Dandavats.com)

The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of the University of Oxford. Impressed by technical expertise and the rich repository of Bhaktivedanta Research Center, OCHS has signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to create a state-of-the-art showcase and analytic tool for Gaudiya Journals of the 19th and 20th centuries. A mix of computer scientists, mansucriptologists, and humanists spanning multiple institutions have come together to accomplish this mammoth task. There are more than 100,000 manuscripts that will be preserved and made available through it. A detailed project outline is available at https://ochs.org.uk/database-project/

For BRC, it is a significant achievement to tie up with the international research center in preserving the writings of Gaudiya Acaryas. BRC’s core contribution in this project is providing vital technology and data expertise.

BRC’s team is lead by Pranava das and Sumanta Rudra das supported by Balaram lila das, Siddha Hari das (Sidharth Chhabra), Sundar Gopala das, and Madhava Kiran.

This project will go live in October with a selected set of Gaudiya journals. Viewers will be able to browse, download, search and analyze these texts to gain a deeper understanding of the mood and development of Gaudiya mission in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This project will also bring together Gaudiya maths together under one umbrella of preserving the Vani of our esteemed Acaryas.

We are looking for capable and enthusiastic developers, programmers, UI, designers to join our team. Those interested may please write to sidc@umich.edu with a short message about your work history. We will take 1/2 new members in the near future.

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