March 6 : The World Tipiṭaka Day
Today, March 6, 2008, patrons of Tipiṭaka worldwide are subtly celebrating the World Tipiṭaka Day, the day which the world's first complete edition of the Buddha's scripture --the finest publication in the Pāḷi language-- was unveiled for the first time in Sri Lanka the sacred land of its birth.
Three years ago on March 6, 2005, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, the Royal Matriarch of Thailand who is the Honorary President of Tipiṭaka Presentation Worldwide, led a special 24-hour pilgrimage from Bangkok to Colombo to present, as a gift of Dhamma, the 40-volume Tipiṭaka in Roman script, the world's first complete International Council Edition in Romanised alphabet, to the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Since then, the World Tiptaka Edition --the Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Pāḷi Tipiṭaka-- has been presented as a gift of Wisdom and Peace from the Royal Matriarch of Thailand to leading international institutions of the world, including, the Constitutional Court of Thailand (2005), Sweden's Uppsala University Library (2005), the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2006), Japan Theravāda Buddhist Association (2007), Sweden's Lund University (2007), the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands (2007), Mahā Bodhi Society of India (2007) and the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Thailand.
On March 6, 2006, during a Tipiṭaka Acceptance Speech at the National Parliament in Colombo, President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka declared “March 6” to be “The World Tipiṭaka Day”, in memory of peaceful collaborations between nations of the world.
Last year in Bangkok, on March 6, 2008, the World Tipiṭaka Presentation to international institutes in India, Japan and Sweden, was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which was presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The highlight of this year's Tipiṭaka Day will be in Colombo, Sri Lanka again where the World Tipiṭaka Edition was inaugurated. A series of Tipiṭaka Lecture by prominent international scholars from Sri Lanka, Japan and Sweden will be organised together with the announcement of the forthcoming World Tipiṭaka Presentation in Sri Lanka to leading institutes of the country. Thus, in addition to century-old traditional Buddhist Studies, a new electronic age of Tipiṭaka Studies and wisdom-based approach to Tipiṭaka, will be formally inaugurated in the top universities of Sri Lanka, the cradle of world's first written Pāḷi Tipiṭaka over the last two millennia.
In Thailand where the World Tipiṭaka Project was first initiated in 1999, the World Tipiṭaka Day will be celebrated this year with the unveiling of the first ever “Electronic Tipiṭaka Quotation” www.tipitakastudies.net. This new WebService will support the modern electronic age of Tipiṭaka Studies worldwide. The e-Tipiṭaka Quotation is dedicated to the late Princess Galyani Vadhana, the esteemed patron of the World Tipiṭaka, who passed away on January 2 this year.
Earlier this year, 600 sets of the World Tipiṭaka “Chanting Version” in Roman script were printed by Dhamma Society Fund in her memory and were presented as gifts of Dhamma to 600 international Theravāda Buddhist monks at Mahā Bodhi Society of India for the Annual Tipiṭaka Chanting at Buddhagaya, Republic of India.
May the merits accrued from the World Tipiṭaka Day be shared by all !
