Assamese Braille dictionary adjudged largest by Guinness World Records

Category : National Published on: May 06 2023

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A 21-volume Braille version of an Assamese-English dictionary weighing more than 80 kg, has become the world’s largest lexicon.
The authorities of the Guinness World Records on May 1 handed over a certificate to Jayanta Baruah, the publisher of the Braille version of Hemkosh, acknowledging its inclusion in the book as the world’s largest bilingual Braille dictionary.
The Braille edition of the Assamese dictionary has 90,640 words printed in 21 volumes and 6 parts, across 10,279 pages and weighing 80.800 kg.
It is the adaption of Hemkosh’s 14th edition’s regular dictionary.
The first Assamese language dictionary Hemkosh was compiled by late Hemchandra Baruah in the last part of the 19th century and was published four years later after his demise.
Notably, this Braille version of Hemkosh would be the first full language dictionary in Braille, after Oxford.
It was formally launched in Guwahati on September 16, 2022 and on September 21, 2022, Baruah presented the first copy of Hemkosh Braille dictionary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.