Palm-Leaf Manuscripts at the National Library of Cambodia
Cambodia suffered many wars in the last century. The period from 1975 to 1979, when the country was ruled by the Khmer Rouge, was the most brutal and destructive period in the history of the country. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, all cultural institutions were destroyed, including the National Library of Cambodia located in Phnom Penh, capital of the country. At the time, the National Library was turned into an office of the military, where soldiers burned furniture and books for cooking. Fortunately, by the time the Khmer Rouge was overthrown by the Vietnamese army in 1979, a few thousand books in the library still remained. Among the surviving materials was a collection of about 500 palm-leaf manuscripts.
The palm-leaf manuscripts, written in Pali and Khmer, with some written in Thai, are important records of Buddhist literature, including Buddhist prayers and sermons, and Cambodian folktales. The manuscripts seem to date mainly from the 19th century, since the most practical preservation strategy had been constantly to copy deteriorating manuscripts, a task traditionally performed by Buddhist monks. Between 1989 and 1990, Cornell University assisted the National Library of Cambodia preserve the deteriorated manuscripts, by cleaning and storing them in archival boxes. The manuscripts were then microfilmed. Copies of the microfilms are currently available only at two American institutions, the Center for Research Library and Cornell University Library, while the one held at the National Library of Cambodia is unusable because the only microfilm reader in the library is not working.
This digitization project, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, digitized 511 palm-leaf manuscripts at the National Library of Cambodia, making them freely available online. Scholars worldwide now have access to these valuable primary sources for the study of religions, literature, and culture of Cambodia. By digitizing the manuscripts, the project also helped preserve an important cultural heritage of Cambodia.
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- បរមត្ថទីបនីអដ្ឋកថាកថាវត្ថុ
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes paramatthatipani atthakatha vatthu, និយាយអំពី បរមត្ថទីបនីអដ្ឋកថាវកថាវត្ថុ របស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-7, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 464".
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- អង្គុត្តរនិកាយទុក្កនិបាត
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes tukanibata angutharanikaya, និយាយអំពីទុក្កនិបាតអង្គុត្តរនិកាយរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 2, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 457".
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- មូលកច្ចាយន
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes mulakachvayana santhi of Buddha, និយាយអំពីព្រះមូលកច្វាយនសន្ធិរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 1-8, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 450".
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- អាខ្យាតរូបទីបនី
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes akhyatarupatipani, និយាយអំពីរូបទិបនិអាខ្យាភកម្ទជ្ជក្សររបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 2, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 452".
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- មូលកច្ចាយន
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes mulakachayana of Buddha, និយាយអំពីមូលកច្ចាយនរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 1, 2, 4-9, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 450".
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- ធាតុកថា
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes tibani theat katha Boddha's Dharma, និយាយអំពីរទីបនីធាតុកថាធម៏របស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-4, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 440".
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- ឧទាន
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes utean of Buddha, និយាយអំពីឧទានរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-19, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 458".
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- ធម្មបទដ្ឋកថាប៉េនតន
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes presh thammabadatthakatha p\"en tan, និយាយអំពី ព្រះធម្មបទដ្ឋកថា ប៉េនតនរបស់ព្រះ, Fascicles 11, 14, 20, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 470".
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- ឥតិវុត្តក
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes pali itivuttaka, និយាយអំពីបាឡីឥតិវុត្តករបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 2, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 458".
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- អង្គុត្តរនិកាយឯកនិបាត
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes ekanipata tankuttaranikaya, និយាយអំពីឯកនិបាតង្ដុត្តរនិកាយរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-10, 1, 2, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 457".
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- កង្ខាវិតរណីភិក្ខុនីប្បាដិមោក្ខ
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes presh kankhavitarani pdikkhunippatimokkha, និយាយអំពីព្រះកបា្តវិរណីភិក្ខុនិបាដីមោក្ខីធម៏របស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1, 2, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 437".
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- វិសុទ្ធិមគ្គប៉េនតន
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes visuthimagga p\"en tan, និយាយអំពី វិសុទ្ឋិមគ្គប៉េនតនរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 3-19, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 469".
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- បរមត្ថសារ (សាស្រ្តាអ៊ុត)
- Khmer standardized title., This bundle describes paramatthasara of buddha, និយាយអំពីបរម្ថសាររបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-5, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 443".
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- វិសុទ្ធិមគ្គប៉េនប្លាយ
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes visuthimak pen play, និយាយអំពីវិសុទ្ទិមគ្គរប៉នប្លាយបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-15, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 461".
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- បាឋពុទ្ធវង្ស
- Khmer corrected title., This bundle describes pathaputhhavong, និយាយអំពីបាឋពុទ្ឋវង្សរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធ, Fascicles 1-4, Bibliothèque nationale du Cambodge, Henry Luce Foundation, Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, Deuxième partie, page 459".