Local News from Sri Lanka: The First Interim Progress Report on the Project for the Nomination of Historical Copies of Pali Tripitaka Palm-leaf Manuscripts in Sinhala Characters for Registration on the UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) Register as Mankind Documentary Heritage was presented to President Maithripala Sirisena at today’s Office of the President (5).
On February 7, 2019, President Sirisena declared the Theravada Tripitaka, the holy scripture of Buddhists as Sri Lankan National Heritage.
On 23 March 2019, the President submitted a proposal to designate Theravada Tripitaka a UNESCO World Heritage Site to the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer, and a Committee of Experts to compile the nomination document for the inscription of the “Historical Copies of the Pāli Tipitaka Palm-Leaf Manuscripts in Sinhala Characters” on the UNESCO Register of the World Heritage Site.
Today, the nomination form and the interim report prepared under the guidance of Prof. Madagampitiya Vijitha Dhamma Thero, Head of Pali and Buddhist Faculty at Sri Jayawardenepura University were handed over to the President.
Following a survey carried out for more than five months, the Committee identified temples and other institutional libraries claiming to have complete or almost complete sets of Tripitaka text manuscripts.
Throughout today’s event, President said responsibility for implementing the activities will be delegated to responsible people, adding that he will mediate to turn this noble mission into future success.
On the occasion, Staff Chief H. M. P. Hitisekara, Committee Chairman and Additional Secretary Esala Weerakoon and Committee members were present.
