What is ‘Abhilekh Patal’ portal?

• In his latest episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew attention to a vast digital archive created by the National Archives of India, urging citizens to explore the ‘Abhilekh Patal’ portal for a deeper understanding of India's historical legacy.

• PM Modi said the National Archives of India portal hosts over 20 crore  digitised documents, including rare manuscripts, letters, and records related to key figures and events in Indian history. 

• Among the highlights, he mentioned the 7th-century Gilgit Manuscripts written on Bhoj Patra (birch bark), and the 8th-century text Siribhoovalay, known for its unique numerical grid format.

• He also referred to historically valuable letters linked to Rani Lakshmibai, noting that these documents shed light on her decisions during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and reflect her courage. 

Abhilekh Patal

• The National Archives of India (NAI) is the repository of the non-current records of the government of India and is holding them in trust for the use of records creators and general users. 

• It is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture.

• The NAI is undertaking systematic and phased digitisation of archival records with the objective of preserving documentary heritage and enhancing public access. 

• A total of archival records and library resources have been digitised, comprising approximately 19.7 crore pages, and the digital repository currently hosts around 74.7 lakh reference media files, which are

accessible through the Abhilekh Patal portal (https://www.abhilekh-patal.in). 

• ‘Abhilekh’ is a Sanskrit term used for records since ancient times and ‘Patal’ is a Sanskrit word meaning a board, platform, or a surface.

• A combination of both these words has been adopted as an acronym for portal for access to archives and learning.

• Abhilekh Patal is a full-featured web-portal to access the National Archives of India’s reference media and its digitised collections through the Internet. 

• The archival collections available through the Abhilekh Patal portal cover a wide range of historical records preserved by the NAI. 

These include:

i) Public records transferred from various ministries and departments of the government of India.

ii) Private papers of eminent personalities.

iii) Archival reference media such as photographs, maps, microfilms and rare documents.

iv) Digitised historical government files and archival collections maintained by NAI.