Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo has joined with the India International Centre in New Delhi to preserve and digitise historic Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts, under an initiative called SAMHITA.
The project has the support of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported.
A progress review, media briefing and site visit were held at the temple today (23 October), allowing invited guests, institutional representatives and media to observe the digitisation process.
What the first phase covers
The first phase will focus on digitising and cataloguing 100 historic palm-leaf manuscripts.
The process involves carefully handling the manuscripts, taking high-quality digital images, recording details and organising the information in a catalogue. The aim is to preserve the contents of fragile documents while protecting the original manuscripts from the handling that ordinary study requires.
The temple’s collection contains Buddhist teachings, religious writings, historical records and traditional knowledge, preserved across generations.
The collection’s provenance
Gangaramaya’s role in Sri Lankan Buddhist, educational and cultural history began with Most Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera, a leading Buddhist scholar central to the country’s Buddhist revival.
His work to promote Buddhist education, protect religious knowledge and strengthen Buddhist institutions was continued by Ven. Devundara Sri Jinaratana Nayaka Thera and later generations of monks.
Under the late Ven. Galboda Gnanissara Nayaka Thera — widely known as Podi Hamuduruwo — the temple developed into a well-known centre for Buddhist activity, education, cultural preservation and social service. It continues this work under its Chief Incumbent, Ven. Dr. Kirinde Assaji Thera.
Why digitisation matters here
Palm-leaf manuscripts degrade. The medium is organic, and the climate in which these particular documents have been kept is not one that favours its survival. Each consultation of an original accelerates its decline, which places preservation and access in direct conflict.
Imaging resolves that conflict rather than postponing it: once a manuscript is captured and catalogued, the text becomes consultable without the object being handled at all. The project is expected to support future research, Buddhist studies and wider efforts to preserve Sri Lanka’s historic manuscripts.
Not reported
The filing does not give the size of the full collection, state how many phases are planned beyond the first 100 manuscripts, or give a timeline or completion date.
It does not report the cost of the project or who is funding it, say where the digital images will be held, or state whether the catalogue will be made publicly accessible or restricted to researchers. It does not name the officials who attended the briefing.
On sourcing. One verified newsroom had filed on this project at the time of writing. Hiru’s homepage carried no item on it, and it did not appear on NewsFirst’s homepage. Ada Derana could not be checked, its site having returned a CloudFront block to this desk for more than a month.
Source: Daily Mirror.
