The prime languages steadily divided and formed their own respective scripts and set of grammatical rules. This era, where one could clearly distinguish between different languages, organized the way in which people communicated and preserved knowledge. People soon started to leave behind the raw and organic methods which required humans to use their senses and physically be involved in both sending and receiving information. Reading and writing became and still continues to be increasingly popular where people have to only use their minds to understand and process the information. The museum intends to provide visitors with both environments:
1.6 Scripts and Languages of India Latin, Hieroglyphics and the scripts of Indian languages such as Sanskrit are full scripts. Sanskrit, is a highly evolved language however, according to author Devdutt Pattanaik, it holds no script of its own. It was written down in Pali and Prakrit first and then in Brahmi which branched out into many different versions such as Siddham, Sharda and Grantha. (It is said in Jain tradition that Sage Rishabh passed on the first script to his daughter Brahmi thus introducing the Brahmi script). Similarities in terms of meanings of words, are not only found between Pali and Sanskrit but also Pali and many Buddhist scripts used today, such as Singhalese and other Sri Lankan languages. Prakrit too, has been divided quite structurally for people to form several other languages based on their form and background. For example, Dramili was spoken by forest-dwellers and Avanti was spoken by cheats and rogues. Traces of ancient symbols are evident in the initial Brahmi Scripts and even the Tamil scripts which people use till today. These scripts further evolved into modern scripts such as Devanagari, and Urdu since the nineteenth century.
1. Raw, natural spaces which require humans to be aware of the surrounding and engage in activities 2. Spaces which are organized and, in some way, restrict your actions and choices but also show the vastness and depths of ancient and existing languages.
Figure 1.6.1 A table showing the name ‘Ram” written in many of the scripts of India 23
