TRIPITAKA

March 24, 2019

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena handed over a proposal seeking to declare the Theravada Tripitaka, the sacred scripture of Buddhists, as a UNESCO World Heritage. It was declared a National heritage of Sri Lanka by President in January this year.

About: 

  • The Tripiṭaka is the traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures. 

  • Buddha’s teachings were initially propagated through word of mouth for generations till the Tripitaka was finally written down in Sri Lanka about 100 years BC. 

  • The teachings are contained in three volumes titled ‘Sutta, Vinaya and Abhidhamma’. 
    • The Vinaya Pitaka's primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks and nuns. 

    • The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000 suttas (teachings) attributed to the Buddha or his close companions. 

    • The Abhidhamma Piṭaka is a detailed scholastic analysis and summary of the Buddha's teachings in the Suttas. 



  • They were first compiled and written on palm leaves with more than 1000 monks involved in the task in Aluvihare near Matale. 

  • Much of the surviving Tripiṭaka literature is in Pali, with some in Sanskrit as well as other local Asian languages. 

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