VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews.id: British Ambassador to Indonesia, Dominic Jermey handed over a digital copy of 120 Javanese manuscripts to the governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X at Gedhong Wilis, Kepatihan Complex, Yogyakarta on Thursday (16/11/2023).

The Javanese manuscripts were digitized and saved on a hard disk drive by the British Library. According to him, the handover of the digital copy could be realized due to a collaboration between the British Library and the National Library of Indonesia under the Bollinger Javanese Manuscript Digitization Project.

"We hand over this extraordinary manuscript so that it can be cared for and be made available and accessible to the public to learn about cultural heritage," Jermey said.

Jermey said these manuscripts are "very valuable and extraordinary". He added that their handover reflects the British government's commitment to collaborating with Yogyakarta in expanding access to historical texts through digital innovation. Jermey and the Sultan also discussed culture and the role of Yogyakarta in Indonesia and the world.

"Java's rich history is now protected forever after being digitized with the latest technology and the dedication of the British Library that persevered through two national lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic to complete this project," Jermey added.

Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X lauded the British government's initiative to digitize the Javanese manuscripts. He said that the manuscripts belonged to Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono II, the second king of Yogyakarta Sultanate who was born in 1750 and passed away in 1828. While the digitalized copies were handed over to the government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the original copies are still kept inside the British Library in London. (Antara)