Abstract
Seals found at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa civilizations and Clay Tablets of Mesopotamia prove that the concept of libraries originated in the prehistoric era and mostly centered on Asia. Dr. Siran Deraniyagala in his study through excavation of Anuradhapura found written materials akin to Brahmi writing assigned to the third century B.C. This indicates that Sri Lanka have had a deep rooted history of libraries. After Buddhist Texts were systematically documented at Aluvihara, in 89-77 B.C. it is clear that every Vihara had provisions for storage of books especially the doctrinal texts covering Thripitaka. This article investigates the architectural view of libraries in ancient Buddhist monasteries of Sri Lanka. Buddhist monasteries in ancient Sri Lanka find various types viz. Mahavihara Type, Panchavasa Type, and Vanavasa Type and every Vihara had a place for doctrinal studies where much use of books occurred. These places were attached to edifices such as Uposathaghara, Chapter house or Parivenas in monasteries.Keywords: Sri Lanka Library History; Ceylon Architecture; Ancient libraries; Monastery libraries of Sri Lanka; Buddhist Monasteriesdoi: 10.4038/jula.v14i1.2684 Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka. Vol.14 (Issue 1). 2010 1-14
Highlights
Seals found at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa civilizations and Clay Tablets of Mesopotamia prove that the concept of libraries originated in the prehistoric era and mostly centered on Asia
*This article is based on the speech made by Dr Roland Silva as the Chief Guest at the 2009 AGM of University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka held on June 2009 at Hotel Galadhari, Colombo
With regard to Apte’s comment that we knew nothing about the writing material in terms of the Indian Subcontinent, the concept had reached a head when at the Centenary Seminar of the Sri Lankan, Department of Archaeology in 1990, when Dr Siran Deraniyagala presented his findings of the stratified sixth century BC layers of the Anuradhapura excavation, wherein he found written material akin to Brahmi writing which had, for over 150 years, been assigned to the third century BC
Summary
*This article is based on the speech made by Dr Roland Silva as the Chief Guest at the 2009 AGM of University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka held on June 2009 at Hotel Galadhari, Colombo. The massive compositions of the Vedas, the Buddhist and Jain texts were all saved up to the period of Brahmi writing through “human computer disks”, or by the transmission of such literature, from farther to son or teacher to pupil, from around 1,500 BC to about 100 BC, when we have a definitive record that the Buddhist Texts were systematically documented at Aluvihara, on the initiative of king Vatagamini Abhaya (89-77 BC ).7 The situation in Sri Lanka is thereafter, clear as every vihara whether it were a Mahavihara type, a Panchavasa type, a Vanavasa Type or even a standard
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