According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha made one prediction from his death bed at Kusinara (present day Kushinagar in India) – that His Dhamma would be protected for all eternity in the neighbouring island of Sri Lanka. This has come true, with Buddhism taking root in Sri Lanka from the very day that Arahat Mahinda introduced it to King Devanampiyatissa and his retinue.
Sri Lanka has become the epicentre of Theravada Buddhism, with a flourishing civilization and culture based on Buddhist philosophy. Thus other Buddhist-majority countries look up to Sri Lanka for leadership in matters concerning Buddhism. It is in this context that we should laud President Maithripala Sirisena’s initiative of seeking UNESCO Memory of the World status for the Tripitaka (Pali Canon), which is in essence the Word of the Buddha in written form.
The “Tripikatabhivandana Week” from March 16 to 23 will culminate with a grand event at Mahamaluwa of the Sacred Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy today, where the official announcement of submission of an application to UNESCO would be made under the patronage of President Sirisena. Sri Lanka, together with several other Theravada Buddhist countries would urge in a joint application to recognize Theravada Tripitaka as a World Heritage under the category of Memory of the World Register. UNESCO established the Memory of the World Programme in 1992. Impetus came originally from a growing awareness of the parlous state of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world.
From the first Dhamma Sangayana (First Buddhist Council) held three months after the Buddha’s Parinibbana, at the Sattapanni Caves in present-day Rajgir, India to the transcription of the Tripitaka at the Matale Alu Viharaya in Sri Lanka in the 1st Century A.D, the Maha Theras and their student generations preserved the Dhamma through oral form. The Dhamma preached by the Buddha for over 45 years was preached by 500 Bhikkus jointly by memorizing those teachings, at this first Dhamma Sangayana.
Considered the oldest book in Sri Lanka, the Tripitaka, originally written in Pali, contains three volumes: the rules and regulations for monastic life, called the vinaya pitaka; the discourses attributed to the Buddha and his closest disciples, the sutta pitaka; and a collection of scholastic summary and analysis, the abhidhamma pitaka. There are two other sections called Atthakatha and Teeka. These comprise the entire discourse of the Dhamma preached by the Buddha. The writing of the Tripitaka thus helped the preservation and propagation of the Buddha’s words which could otherwise have been lost to the modern world. The Tripitaka was published as a modern book in 1956 and is now available worldwide in various languages.
In a significant move to provide the long due proper global status to the Tripitaka, President Maithripala Sirisena declared the Sambuddha Jayanthi Theravada Tripitaka as a National Heritage on January 5, 2019 at Alu Viharaya itself. The declaration offers legal and ethical protection, ensuring that in the future only a prominent intellectual panel will be allowed to translate or edit the scriptures.
The Tripitaka belongs to the entire world, not just the Buddhist world. In other words, it is a World Heritage. To mark the week, events around the world are raising awareness of the text’s importance. On March 16, the London Buddhist Vihara in the United Kingdom hosted a symposium on the significance of the Tripitaka as a world heritage. Events were held in other Buddhist countries and around Sri Lanka to raise awareness on the importance of preserving and promoting the Tripitaka.
Sri Lankan authorities should also ensure that one correct, Authorized Version is available on the Internet for perusal by Buddhist scholars, students and the Maha Sangha worldwide. This could be offered in a variety of oriental and occidental languages. This will clear any confusion as to the Buddha’s exact teachings.
Sri Lanka already has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which is remarkable given its small land area. Among them are several religious sites including Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Dambulla. Now that a movement is underway to gain Memory of the World heritage status for the Tripitaka, a concurrent campaign should be launched to seek World Heritage Status for the historic Alu Viharaya in Matale, where it all began. This will also be an impetus for local pilgrims and foreign tourists to visit the temple, which is often bypassed in favour of the nearby World Heritage sites Dambulla and Sigiriya.
Sri Lanka, like neighbouring India and Nepal, should heavily promote its Buddhist pilgrim sites to attract Buddhist pilgrim traffic from countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Japan and Korea. This will tie-in with President Sirisena's recent proposal to grant free visas on arrival to tourists and pilgrims from such countries in Asia. Sri Lanka Tourism should work together with counterparts from India and Nepal to form a triangular Buddhist pilgrimage network.
The Tripitaka may be a religious text at its heart, but its core message of peace and compassion is truly timeless and universal. It certainly deserves to be elevated as a global heritage and treasure of all mankind, for all time.
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