The Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) will launch a certificate course in reading old scripts like ‘Kolezhuthu’ and ‘Vattezhuthu’ in February as part of its efforts to create a team of scholars well-versed in scripts to help research.
The number of scholars, researchers, and students of history and others, familiar with old scripts, has depleted. There are not enough people to aid research now, and the course is being introduced to meet this requirement.
Historian P.K. Michael Tharakan, who is also KCHR Chairman, said there were hundreds of records in archives in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the number of people who can read and understand them is limited. “There should have been more such skilled people to help with research,” he said on Tuesday.
Historians M.R. Raghava Warrier and Kesavan Veluthat will lead the course, which will be held on the Pattanam campus near Paravur, over 64 weeks on Saturdays and Sundays.
The course will be a combination of theory and practice with 40 weeks being dedicated to sessions and 20 for field visits, KCHR sources said. Y. Subbarayulu, doyen of epigraphy, will also lead a few sessions.
Mr. Tharakan said the course should have started last year itself had it not been for the COVID-19 outbreak. It was delayed, as it was not possible to hold sessions on reading and familiarising with old scripts online, he added. Each batch will have 12 seats, and the course fee is being waived for sessions starting in February, as they are the inaugural ones.
The course is open to graduates. Special interest in history and languages will be an added advantage. The course will take a multi-disciplinary approach.
