KOREA FOUNDATION

ASEAN Heritage

Myanmar’s Tripitaka at the Kuthodaw Pagoda

Edited by Korean National Commission for UNESCO

Myanmar, a nation comprised of 135 different ethnic groups, boasts many Buddhist relics as the history of Buddhism in Myanmar is thought to have begun over two thousand years ago. Whereas people in Korea flock to Haein Temple in South Gyeongsang Province to see the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist scriptures also known in Korean as Palman Daejanggyeong, people in Myanmar visit the Kuthodaw Inscription Shrines, or Maha Lawkamarazein, in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city after Yangon, to see Myanmar’s Tripikata Pāli Canon, the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. 

   The Kuthodaw inscriptions are a set of 729 stone slabs that have the entirety of all Buddhist scriptures inscribed into them, which is why the collection is often referred to as the “largest book in the world.” With the collective help of many monks and craftspeople, the creation of the inscriptions took around eight years. Three years after the inscriptions were revealed to the public on May 4, 1868, King Mindon (r. 1853–1878) convened the 5th Buddhist Council, one of the largest councils in history. Held nearly 2,000 years after the previous synod, it was presided over by three elder bhikkhus, ordained male monastics, who were accompanied by 2,400 of their colleagues. During the gathering, which lasted for five months, they examined and recited all teachings of the Buddha and eventually approved the 729 tablets as official Tripitaka. Ever since, the tablets are safely stored at the Kuthodaw Pagoda.

   Myanmar’s Tripikata represents a rare historical resource, which researchers not only from Myanmar but from countries all over the world consider an invaluable piece of world heritage. Besides providing evidence of Buddhist teachings, the scriptures allow insights into the role of Buddhism in the greater scheme of world history. 

   The Kuthodaw Pagoda and its priceless marble slabs are indicative of the resilience of Buddhism, which has retained a strong following to this day, over 2,500 years after the death of the Buddha, as well as of the admirable religious piety of King Mindon, the country’s penultimate king who is still revered by the people of Myanmar. In 2013, the Kuthodaw Inscription Shrines were inscribed on the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. The site is now preserved by Myanmar’s National Museum and Library and continues to be a symbol of Myanmar’s long-lasting history of Buddhism.