The National Mission for Manuscripts was established in February 2003 by the Ministry of Culture. Its purpose is to locate, document, preserve and disseminate the knowledge content of Indian manuscripts. While looking ahead to reconnect with the knowledge of the past, the Mission is in the process of trying to re-contextualize the knowledge contained in manuscripts for the present and the future generations. The mission organizes seminars on various subjects related to Indian knowledge in different locations of India. The papers presented in the seminar are collected and brought under the Samiksika series.

In December 2010, the mission organized a seminar on manuscripts related to Indian traditional medicine system at ORIML, University of Kerala. The seminar dealt with different aspects of Ayurveda and its importance to modern society. The main focus of this seminar was on Ayurveda practiced in Kerala, the state which has its own ethnic style of Ayurvedic treatment. The seminar gave ample opportunities to the experts to put forth their views and share their research-oriented knowledge with others.

K. G. Sreelekha, Professor and Head, Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library, University of Kerala.