Smriti-Sanchaya ಸ್ಮೃತಿ-ಸಂಚಯ
IPH Bengaluru Institutional Archive and Living Memory
Staging area — April 2026 This page gathers all working documents, the portal design, the web launch text, and the Kaanu integration plan in one place for review by invited colleagues. It is a working draft, not a finished document. Write to Prashanth NS or Abhinav Tyagi with reactions, corrections, and suggestions.
What this is
Smriti-Sanchaya (ಸ್ಮೃತಿ-ಸಂಚಯ) is IPH Bengaluru’s institutional archive and living memory — a structured effort to collect, annotate, and curate the photographs, documents, oral histories, artefacts, and recordings that trace the institute’s twenty-year journey. The archive will run on Omeka S (open-source archival software) on a self-hosted server at sanchaya.iphbengaluru.res.in.
The project connects to the Kaanu collective’s work through the Doddasampige Adivasi studies bibliography and the emerging Portraits of 12 Adivasi Communities project. Both Kaanu collections are proposed to be hosted within Sanchaya’s infrastructure as independent, named sites — separate from IPH’s institutional memory but sharing the same server.
The initiative is led by Prashanth NS, Abhinav Tyagi, and Upendra Bhojani.
The web launch text
Abhinav has written the bilingual invitation text that will appear on the portal’s public landing page. It is reproduced here in full for review.
English
Dear friends, well-wishers and the family members of IPH. As many of you know, we started our journey 20 years ago. Many of you have been with us since inception; some embarked on this journey midway at different points; and a few left us to explore different challenges over the last 20 years. Therefore, as a collective, besides our emotional connection with IPH, there exists a lot of material as an expression, having bearings and imprints of our relationship with IPH and vice versa. Much of this material is scattered and in a vulnerable state. Before we lose these precious memories, we had a thought to preserve them.
We are making a modest attempt with Smriti-Sanchaya to collect, process, annotate and curate this material, which can help us build a collective narrative of institutional history at IPH. This material can be anything — maybe a photograph, audio and videos of yourself, or any other members of IPH or our partners from an event. Formal events and significant landmark events, such as the EPHP conference, government training programs, and workshops. Images of informal gatherings, such as sharing meals, travelling to BR Hills together, and picnics, are also of great value to our collection.
Please also consider submitting artefacts that capture and narrate our journey as we evolve across different office locations, geographies, landscapes, and the built environment of IPH. It can include images of an old office building, architectural layouts and drawings of the buildings, rooms, and renovation plans, seating arrangements, any iconic furniture, the front desk, etc. You can also include landmarks, post boxes, logos, and anything that you feel defines or represents IPH at the given time.
Similarly, we invite documents concerning formal conversations, reports, letters, certificates, accreditations, your travel diaries, field notebooks, bus or train tickets, salary slips or boarding passes from your past travels, daily planners, storyboards, posters, FIR copies or any complaint copies, etc.
Basically, we are looking for everything, from a vendor payment receipt for an IPH event to an Award or FCRA approval/revocation. Last, if you do not have any material with you but possess a memory — you can record your narrative and submit it to us as an oral history.
How to submit: Register and submit your details → Submit material against the appropriate category → Annotate with a short note (year, significance, association with IPH) → Submit.
ಕನ್ನಡ
ಆತ್ಮೀಯ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರು, ಹಿತೈಷಿಗಳು ಮತ್ತು IPH ನ ಕುಟುಂಬ ಸದಸ್ಯರು. ನಿಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಅನೇಕರಿಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿರುವಂತೆ, ನಾವು ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಯಾಣವನ್ನು 20 ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವರು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭದಿಂದಲೂ ನಮ್ಮೊಂದಿಗಿದ್ದೀರಿ; ಕೆಲವರು ಈ ಪ್ರಯಾಣವನ್ನು ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವಿಧ ಹಂತಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದರು; ಮತ್ತು ಕೆಲವು ಕಳೆದ 20 ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವಿಧ ಸವಾಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಅನ್ವೇಷಿಸಲು ನಮಗೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟು. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಸಾಮೂಹಿಕವಾಗಿ, ಐಪಿಎಚ್ ನೊಂದಿಗಿನ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾವನಾತ್ಮಕ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದ ಹೊರತಾಗಿ, ಐಪಿಎಚ್ ನೊಂದಿಗಿನ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಬಂಧದ ಬೇರಿಂಗ್ ಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಮುದ್ರೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಅಭಿವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ವಸ್ತುಗಳಿವೆ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರತಿಯಾಗಿ. ಈ ವಸ್ತುವಿನ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಭಾಗವು ಚದುರಿಹೋಗಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ದುರ್ಬಲ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ನಾವು ಈ ಅಮೂಲ್ಯ ನೆನಪುಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಮೊದಲು, ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂರಕ್ಷಿಸುವ ಆಲೋಚನೆಯನ್ನು ನಾವು ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದೇವೆ.
IPH ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಂಸ್ಥಿಕ ಇತಿಹಾಸದ ಸಾಮೂಹಿಕ ನಿರೂಪಣೆಯನ್ನು ನಿರ್ಮಿಸಲು ನಮಗೆ ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡುವ ಈ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಲು, ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯೆಗೊಳಿಸಲು, ಟಿಪ್ಪಣಿ ಮಾಡಲು ಮತ್ತು ಕ್ಯುರೇಟ್ ಮಾಡಲು ನಾವು ಸ್ಮೃತಿ-ಸಂಚಯದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ.
The six submission categories
| Category | What we are looking for |
|---|---|
| Photographs | Field visits, events, campus life, informal gatherings, BR Hills trips, people at work |
| Documents | Reports, letters, certificates, field notebooks, travel diaries, salary slips, posters, tickets |
| Artefacts | Office spaces, furniture, logos, letterheads, seating arrangements, architectural drawings |
| Awards & Recognition | Awards, accreditations, FCRA approvals, formal certifications |
| Audio & Video | Conference recordings, training sessions, EPHP clips, informal recordings |
| Oral Histories | Record a two-minute voice note of a memory — no physical material needed |
Portal design — how it will look
An interactive demo of the full portal has been built, showing all four sections: the bilingual landing page with six category cards, the submission form, the browse/collection view with filters and timeline stars, and the internal curation desk. Screenshots are embedded in the concept note document.
Demo available on request The interactive demo is available via Prashanth. The concept note document includes screenshots of all four screens.
Documents for review
Smriti-Sanchaya Concept Note (v0.2, April 2026)
Full project concept: purpose and framing, name and bilingual context, portal design with screen mockups, scope (six categories), Kaanu integration plan, infrastructure options and recommendation (Hetzner VPS, self-hosted Omeka S), phased roadmap with role assignments, and immediate next steps.
Key questions for reviewers:
- Does the framing feel right for the audience we intend to reach?
- Does the scope of six categories capture everything? Anything missing or redundant?
- Does the role assignment in the roadmap look reasonable — particularly the Phase 2 pilot (Abhinav + Upendra inviting senior colleagues)?
- Should ITW materials be a future Sanchaya collection?
Kaanu & Sanchaya Integration Plan (April 2026)
Architecture document covering: the atelier/archive distinction (Kaanu as working intellectual space; Sanchaya as permanent structured home); what lives where (Doddasampige → Omeka S, Portraits → Obsidian then Sanchaya, interpretive writing stays in Quartz); the Zotero-to-Sanchaya workflow for new bibliography items; the Portraits of 12 Adivasi Communities project incubation workflow; Kaanu’s editorial independence within the Sanchaya infrastructure; and the domain question.
Key questions for reviewers:
- Does the atelier/archive distinction make sense as a working principle?
- Is the Portraits workflow (draft in Obsidian → publish to Sanchaya when ready) workable for the collective?
- Domain: keep kaanu.daktre.com canonical and redirect from kaanu.iphbengaluru.res.in? Or move fully to the IPH subdomain?
Metadata Schema and Configuration Reference (April 2026)
Technical document: field-by-field specification of the submission form, Dublin Core metadata mappings, Omeka S setup sequence. Primarily for the technical configuration phase but useful for understanding what contributors are asked to provide.
Sanchaya as shared infrastructure — the full picture
A single Omeka S installation can host multiple independent sites. The roadmap envisages the following under sanchaya.iphbengaluru.res.in:
| Site | Content | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Smriti-Sanchaya | IPH institutional memory — photos, documents, oral histories, artefacts | Primary. Setting up now. |
| Adivasi Studies Bibliography | Doddasampige bibliography migrated from WIKINDX | Phase 4 — months 3–4 |
| Portraits of 12 Communities | Kaanu community portrait series, graduated from Obsidian incubation | Future — as portraits complete |
| IPH Research Library | Working papers, journal articles, grey literature | Future |
| Policy Archive | Consultation responses, policy briefs, public submissions | Future |
Kaanu’s Quartz site (kaanu.daktre.com) stays on its own platform. It links to Sanchaya items by URL but does not live inside Omeka. The relationship is one of voluntary deposit, not subsumption.
Phased roadmap
| Phase | Focus | Who | Approx. timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 — Foundation | Hetzner VPS, Ubuntu/Apache/PHP/MySQL, Omeka S install, DNS, SSL | PNS + Harish | Weeks 1–2 |
| 1 — Configuration | Six Item Sets, Resource Templates, Collecting module, seed items | PNS + Abhinav | Weeks 3–4 |
| 2 — Pilot | Invite senior colleagues, observe, gather feedback | Abhinav + Upendra | Week 5 |
| 3 — Open collection | All current and former IPH staff, fellows, partners | Sanchaya team | Months 2–3 |
| 4 — Doddasampige | WIKINDX export → Omeka S import, bibliographic site | PNS | Months 3–4 |
| 5 — Timeline and display | 15–20 Timeline Star items, TimelineJS, anniversary exhibit | PNS | Month 5+ |
Open questions
- Pilot group — who beyond the three of us should be in the first round? Devadasan certainly. Who else?
- ITW — should ITW materials be a future Sanchaya collection?
- Kaanu domain — redirect from iphbengaluru.res.in, or full move?
- Oral history accessibility — how do we support contributors who are less comfortable with digital tools?
- Seed items — what ten to fifteen items should we add before the pilot opens? PNS and UB to identify together.
How to engage
Write to Prashanth NS or Abhinav Tyagi. Documents available on request. Once the server is set up (Phase 0), a URL will be shared for the actual pilot.
Related: Wall-Stories-ಗೋಡೆಕಥೆಗಳು · Kaanu ಕಾನು · Part of the daktre.com and iphbengaluru.res.in web