Preserving the Mekong’s Palm-Leaf Heritage

via UNESCO, 26 March 2024: Thailand’s National Collection of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts, preserving the Phra That Phanom Chronicle, has been recognized by UNESCO for its significant role in documenting the Mekong region’s cultural and spiritual heritage. These manuscripts, inscribed with the intricate Isan Dhamma script, offer a unique blend of mythology, spirituality, and regional historiography, reflecting the profound faith and craftsmanship of local communities.

Cherished and revered for generations as a key Buddhist text originating in the central Mekong River Basin (particularly in northeastern Thailand and Lao PDR), the Phra That Phanom Chronicle was widely copied and transmitted in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts that were commissioned for merit-making, and the chronicle continues to thrive today in numerous versions housed in temples and memory institutions across the region. ‘The ten versions kept at the NLT are representative of that variety, which allows for intertextual comparative study,’ said Savitri Suwansathit, Vice-Chair of the Thai National Committee on the Memory of the World Programme of UNESCO. Particularly noteworthy is the seven-fascicle version which was given to Krom Luang Prajak Silpakom (1856-1925) during his tenure as governor of the northeastern region of Siam, and which subsequently served as the basis for the first modern printed edition of the Phra That Phanom Chronicle.

Source: Preserving documentary heritage of the Mekong region | UNESCO