Dhamma Technology : From National Scripts to World Edition

Dhamma Technology : From National Scripts to World Tipitaka Edition

"Pali" is an old Indian dialect of the mass, spoken in the Indian Subcontinent over 3000 years ago. During the lifetime of the Buddha, Pali was the Dhamma-language of the Buddhist teaching and thus finally became the written medium of Buddhist scripture, the Tipitaka.

During an early period, Pali Tipitaka was committed to memory and was propagated by Theravada Buddhist monks orally from generation to generation. It was first written on palm leave some 400 years after the demise of Buddha or in the first century BC.

The first written Pali Tipitaka took place in old Sri Lanka when the entire Tipitaka was inscribed on palm leaves --in Sinhalese script-- for the first time. Consequently, the Tipitaka on palm leave was the conventional depository of the Buddhist Theravada scripture for over 2000 years.

In 1893, King Chulalongkorn of Siam revolutionised the traditional Buddhist depository convention --the King published the Tipitaka in Book-form for the first time. In stead of inscribing the sacred Pali texts by hand in old Khmer script, the King ordered a new edition, totaling 39 volumes, to be printed in modern-typeface of the Siam script.

With the efficiency of printing technology of the day, such as, Western printing machinery and local book-binding in Bangkok, these newly edited Siam-script Tipitakas were sent as royal gifts to 260 institutes across five continents in 1896.

At the end, this documentary shows the handing-over of the 40-volume Royal Gift of Tipitaka to Uppsala University by Tipitaka Patrons from Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Sweden.

The sounds were recorded live during pilgrimage with a musicial background from Swedish contemporary classic, a gift from Swedish Patron to Dhamma Society Fund.

Digital Archives form the M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund's World Tipitaka Project in Roman script, 1999-2007.

Tipitaka International Council B.E. 2500 (1956) : http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhammasociety/sets/72157600329146593/

World Tipitaka Edition in Roman Script 1956-2005 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhammasociety/sets/72157600416138576/

Tipitaka Studies Reference 2007 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhammasociety/sets/72157600406425037/

Royal Patron of Tipitaka : http://buddhavasse.blogspot.com/2007/06/royal-patron-of-tipitaka.html

Dhamma Society Fund
http://www.dhammasociety.org

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Technology
• scripture
• Pali
• Tipitaka
• historiography