DTP

Talking About Us

DTP

HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD

Most Ven. Tibbotuwawe Sri Siddhārtha Sumangala Mahā thero

Ven. Phraphromvajirapanyajarn

Ven. Assoc. Prof. Phrathepwatcharajarn

DTP

About Us

According to Buddhist tradition, the teaching of the Lord Buddha has been preserved and passed on through generations by oral recitation, and the first written record was made around 400 B.E. during the reign of the pious Sinhala, King Vatta Gamani Abhaya of Sri Lanka. Since then the Pāli Tipiṭaka, commentaries, sub-commentaries and sub-sub-commentaries have been transmitted by inscribing on the palm-leaf manuscripts which can be divided into 4 mains traditions as follows:

  • Sinhalese tradition

  • Burmese tradition

  • Khom tradition

  • Tham tradition

Our ancestors had put a lot of effort into inscriping and preserving these palm-leave manuscripts which have significant historical and cultural values as Buddhist documentary heritage. Unfortunately, in times, the precious manuscripts have disappeared through "natural" causes and the ignorance of people. Nowadays, very few people can read, preserve and make use of the manuscripts.

Thus, in April 2010, Wat Phra Dhammakaya has launched “The Dhammachai Tipiṭaka Project”, with the aims to preserve the existing palm-leaf manuscripts and to create the digitalized and computerized database of the Pāli Tipiṭaka in order to support the Buddhist studies by all interested parties.

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