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President confident of international support for move to declare Tripitakaya a world heritage
View(s):President Maitripala Sirisena, yesterday, said there was international support for Sri Lanka’s move to declare Tripitakaya a world heritage.
The President was speaking at the National Tripitaka felicitation ceremony held at Mahamaluwa in Kandy.
He said he was confident that the Tripitakaya would be made a world heritage as the international community had extended its support to the move.
He said India had sent a message that it would like to second Sri Lanka’s proposal to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“Both Buddhist and non Buddhist countries have recognized Tripitaka. Myanmar has passed legislation in 1954 giving it national status. Germany, which has a small Buddhist population, and other non Buddhist countries have translated Tripitaka into local languages,” he said.
At yesterday’s event, the President handed over to UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, Hanna Singer, a dossier containing the request to make Therawada Tripitaka a world heritage document.
Among those who attended the ceremony were the Mahanayaka Theras of all Nikayas, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Cultural Affairs Minister Sajith Premadasa and Buddah Sasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera.
Minister Premadasa said that since the time of King Walagamaba, monks had taken great efforts to protect the Tripitaka, undergoing starvation and hardships. For generations, they had preserved it by memorising it. Ms. Singer said that she was proud to be the UN representative in a country which had eight world heritage sites and two recommendations in the World Memory Register.
UNESCO established the World Heritage and the World Memory Register for a specific reason to protect world heritage and historical sites in keeping with its vision that they belonged to all.