– Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo has joined hands with the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi to preserve and digitize historic Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts under the SAMHITA initiative, with the support of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka.

A progress review, media briefing and site visit are being held at Gangaramaya Temple today (23), allowing invited guests, institutional representatives and media personnel to observe the digitization process.The project aims to protect valuable Buddhist writings and historical records and make their contents available for future generations.Gangaramaya Temple has played an important role in Sri Lanka’s Buddhist, educational and cultural history. Its legacy began with Most Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera, a leading Buddhist scholar who played a major role in 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 leadership of the late Ven. Galboda Gnanissara Nayaka Thera, popularly known as Podi Hamuduruwo, Gangaramaya developed into a well-known centre for Buddhist activities, education, cultural preservation and social service.

The temple continues this work under the guidance of Ven. Dr. Kirinde Assaji Thera, its Chief Incumbent, with a focus on protecting its historical collections and passing their knowledge on to future generations.The temple’s collection of palm-leaf manuscripts contains Buddhist teachings, religious writings, historical records and traditional knowledge. These documents have been preserved over generations and form an important part of Sri Lanka’s religious and cultural heritage.The first phase of the SAMHITA project will focus on digitizing and cataloguing 100 historic palm-leaf manuscripts.The process includes carefully handling the manuscripts, taking high-quality digital images, recording details and organizing the information in a catalogue. This will help preserve the contents of the fragile documents while protecting the original manuscripts.

The project is expected to support future research, Buddhist studies and efforts to preserve Sri Lanka’s historic manuscripts.