The London Buddhist Vihara, W4 1UD the Sri Lankan High Commission

H-Buddhism SYMPOSIUM> The Significance of Tripitaka as World Heritage (March 16, 2019)

Discussion published by Mahinda Deegalle on Friday, March 15, 2019 SYMPOSIUM: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TRIPITAKA AS WORLD HERITAGE

Date: 16 March 2019 at 2 pm Location: The London Buddhist Vihara, W4 1UD

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London has organized this symposium in association with the London Buddhist Vihara.

Presenters include the following: (1) Professor Rupert Gethin (University of Bristol): “The Pali Tripitaka: Its Significance as a source for the study of Buddhism”

(2) Dr. Elizabeth Harris (University of Birmingham): “The Tripitaka as Part of World’s Heritage of Spiritual Resources: A personal response”

(3) Professor Mahinda Deegalle (Bath Spa University): “Sri Lanka’s Occupation with the Tripitaka: Ancient and Modern Contributions to the Preservation and Understanding of Buddhavacana, the ‘Word’ of the Buddha”

Citation: Mahinda Deegalle. SYMPOSIUM> The Significance of Tripitaka as World Heritage (March 16, 2019). H-Buddhism. 03-15-2019. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6060/discussions/3875171/symposium-significance-tripitaka-world-heritage Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Buddhism

(4) Dr. Martin Seager (University of Leeds): “Influence of the Pali Tipitaka Canon on Buddhist Traditions in South Asia.”

The context for this symposium is an event that took place in Sri Lanka. In responding to demands from activists against distortions of the ‘Word’ of the Buddha by idiosyncratic translations of some Sinhalese, President Maithripala Sirisena of Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka declared the Tripitaka as a National Heritage on 5 January 2019. In addition, the week of 16-22 March 2019 has been declared as Tripitaka Week with celebrations organized around the country and abroad. The current plan is to enter the Buddhist Tripitaka in the Memory of Register at UNESCO.