TKDL is an innovative application of Information and Communication Technology for inventorisation of Traditional Knowledge (TK) in particular Traditional Medicine (TM) and intangible cultural heritage for the purpose of preservation, safeguarding and protection. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) involves documentation of the traditional knowledge available in public domain in the form of existing literature related to Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga in digitized format in five international languages, which are English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish. TKDL is a multi-disciplinary project which was initiated as an answer to the bio-piracy of Indian TK system in particular at an international level. The objective of TKDL is to protect misappropriation of the ancient and traditional knowledge of the country from exploitation through bio privacy and unethical patents, by documenting it electronically and classifying it as per international patent classification systems.
