Researchers using advanced AI-assisted multispectral imaging have successfully deciphered a collection of fragmented 7th-century Grantha script manuscripts discovered near the ancient port of Palur in Odisha. The texts contain lost chapters of early Indian medical literature specifically focused on Nadi Vijnana (pulse diagnosis), detailing over sixty distinct pulse patterns associated with specific internal pathologies and metabolic imbalances.
The discovery is significant as it provides the earliest known written evidence of a systematic methodology for diagnostic cardiology in the Indian tradition. Scholars at the National Institute of Heritage Science note that the manuscript describes the use of specialized botanical extracts to modulate pulse irregularities, suggesting a highly integrated approach to pharmacology and diagnostics that predates many later medieval medical compendiums.