India Funds Manuscript Digitisation in Colombo
The SAMHiTA project will digitise ancient palm-leaf manuscripts held at Gangaramaya Temple in Sri Lanka's capital.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Buddhism
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The India International Centre has launched the SAMHiTA project to digitise palm-leaf manuscripts housed at Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo, with the Indian government fully funding the work. Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha attended the launch ceremony.
Why it matters
The project aims to preserve the intellectual and cultural heritage of South Asia by making ancient manuscripts digitally available for future generations. It is the first Sri Lankan institution to partner with the India International Centre under the SAMHiTA initiative.
The partnership was formalised with a memorandum of understanding in July 2024, and digitisation is scheduled to finish in late November 2026. The total number of manuscripts in the collection has not been disclosed.
The players
Santosh Jha
Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka who attended the SAMHiTA launch ceremony and expressed hope the initiative may expand to more manuscript collections.
Gangaramaya Temple
A prominent Buddhist temple in Colombo that houses the palm-leaf manuscripts and is the first Sri Lankan institution to partner with the India International Centre under SAMHiTA.
India International Centre
A New Delhi-based cultural and intellectual institution that launched the SAMHiTA project and is cooperating with Gangaramaya Temple on the digitisation.
The details
A team of local experts led by project consultant Prof Gamini Ranasinghe is conserving and digitising the manuscripts, explaining the process to visitors during the launch. The Devnimori relics of Lord Buddha were also exhibited at Gangaramaya Temple in February 2026.
Timeline
July 2024: Gangaramaya Temple and the India International Centre sign a memorandum of understanding.
February 2026: The Devnimori Buddha relics exhibition is held at Gangaramaya Temple.
November 2, 2026: The SAMHiTA digitisation launch ceremony takes place in Colombo.
Late November 2026: Expected completion of the manuscript digitisation work.
Cultural Preservation Context
The Colombo digitisation extends the SAMHiTA project from Indian institutions into a Sri Lankan Buddhist partnership, following a formal memorandum of understanding signed in July 2024. It places Gangaramaya Temple among the first South Asian heritage holders to digitise ancient palm-leaf texts under this program.
Readers interested in Buddhist texts may eventually access digitised copies of these palm-leaf manuscripts once the project is complete. The timeline and expansion plans have not yet been confirmed for public access.
The takeaway
Digitisation can make fragile ancient texts accessible without handling the originals, which helps protect them for future study. Interested readers can follow how cross-border heritage partnerships like this one develop over the coming year.
What happens next
The digitisation work is expected to finish in late November 2026.
Further reading
Explore more on Buddhism and the traditions behind these ancient texts.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Asia News.it.
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