Bengaluru: A trove of 2,000 ancient books and manuscripts containing information about ancient Indian medicine is now available in the digital format. Sunday saw the launch of a digital repository of Indian ancient medical books and manuscripts at an event held at the Transdiciplinary University (TDS) in Yelahanka. The website, however, will be accessible shortly, said university officials.On the occasion of Indian Medical Heritage Day, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family inaugurated the Digital Resources Centre of Ancient Medical Books and Manuscripts. The day was observed by the university in memory of late king Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar.Experts feel this will go long way in helping research scholars, doctors and patients know about Indian traditional medicine especially, ayurveda. “Preparing a database of literature on Indian medicine is a huge task. This is just a humble beginning. Our target is to collect at least 1 lakh manuscripts and ancient books and make them available online,” said Prof M A Lakshmithathachar, president of Samskriti Foundation, who has developed the digital library.An initiative of the TDU, the project was funded by the government of Karnataka. “So far, the state has released Rs 1 crore, and further grants are awaited,” said Lakshmithathachar. Last year, the university launched a medical heritage library and the digital repository is an online extension of the same. Its launch also marked the first anniversary of the heritage library.“The ayurveda knowledge system has captured the essential and unchanging principles of nature and on this foundation built applications for changing circumstances of health and disease of humans, animals and plant life”, said Pramoda Devi.A medical ambulance sponsored by Canara Bank was dedicated to the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (I-AIM). Founded by telecom wizard Sam Pitroda and Darshan Shankar, an expert in traditional medicine, TDU has evolved as knowledge centre for traditional medicine.