Abstract

This paper explores the dynamic intersection of Digital Humanities (DH) and vernacular literature in India, focusing on how technology is being leveraged to archive, preserve, and analyze literary works in regional languages. As digital tools such as text mining, corpus linguistics, and natural language processing evolve, they offer powerful methods for processing and interpreting vast corpora of vernacular texts—many of which have remained underrepresented in mainstream literary discourse. The study presents a comprehensive introduction to the field of DH, discusses the historical and cultural significance of vernacular literature in India, and highlights major challenges in digitization and linguistic diversity. It further reviews existing literature and provides case studies of significant digital archiving projects in India, such as the Digital Archive of Punjabi Literature, the Tamil Literary Corpus, and initiatives under the Endangered Languages Project. These case studies illustrate the potential and limitations of using digital methodologies to preserve and critically engage with regional literary traditions. The paper argues that such initiatives are essential not only for cultural preservation but also for democratizing access to literary heritage. It concludes by emphasizing the need for collaborative, multilingual, and interdisciplinary approaches to fully realize the potential of Digital Humanities in the Indian context.