Sri Lanka: Palm-leaf manuscript with religious scripts, Asgiriya Vihara (temple), Kandy

Palm leaf manuscripts are made out of dried palm leaves. They served as the paper of the ancient world in parts of Asia as far back as the fifteenth century BCE, and possibly much earlier. They were used to record actual and mythical narratives in South Asia and in South East Asia.

Asgiriya Vihara, the ‘Monastery of the Horse Mountain’, was built by the family of Pilima Talauve in the early 19th century, on a plot adjoining the ancient royal cremation ground. The Asgiriya Vihara is a rather smallish, inconspicuous temple, but as one of the seats of Goyigama religious power, of great significance.

From the early 19th century onwards, during the Esala Perahera, the sacred Tooth Relic would be deposited for the last night of the festival at the Asgiriya Vihara. Together with the Malwatte Vihara, it is also one of the wealthiest temples in Sri Lanka.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Chaweewan Chuchuay

Credit:

Pictures From Asia