Pitakataik

Pitakataik (Burmese: ပိဋကတ်တိုက်; also spelt bidagat taik and pitaka taik) is a library of Buddhist scriptures, including the Tipiṭaka, found in Buddhist societies in modern-day Myanmar (Burma).

History

The pitakataik dates to the pre-colonial era. During the Pagan Kingdom era, Anawrahta commissioned a square-shaped pitakataik that measured 51 square feet (4.7 m2), built in the style of a temple with a central plinth surrounded by a corridor, located 150 feet (46 m) from the Tharabha Gate.[1] Subsequent monarchs, including Kyansittha, Htilominlo, and Kyaswa, continued the tradition of building pitakataiks during their reigns, ushering in a tradition of royals and laypersons alike commissioning pitakataiks.[1] By the First Toungoo Empire era, the pitakataik was considered a requisite edifice for a royal capital, and it was built in Bayinnaung's capital of Hanthawaddy (now Bago, Myanmar).[1]

During the Mrauk U period, 48 pitakataik were established within the compounds of pagodas and monasteries.[2] They remain one of the few buildings that survive from that period.[2] Of these, the Khain-Kaik Pitakataik, built by Min Phalaung in 1591 and located north of Htuparon Pagoda, is the best preserved.[2]

By the Konbaung dynasty, the pitakataik was one of the seven integral structures (နန်းတည် သတ္တဌာန) whose foundations had to be laid in establishing a royal capital, demonstrating its importance.[3] A royal pitakataik was built in each of the Konbaung kingdom's royal capitals, including Amarapura, Inwa, and Mandalay.[1] According to a contemporaneous British account in 1795, the Pitakataik at Amarapura was described as the largest library between the Danube and China.[4]

During the establishment of Mandalay as a royal capital, King Mindon Min commissioned the construction of a pitakataik at the foot of Mandalay Hill.[1] Copies of Tipiṭaka texts were relocated from the Amarapura Pitakataik and deposited at the newly constructed library in January 1864.[1][5] In October 2013, the Sitagu Sayadaw announced a donation to rebuild the Mandalay Pitakataik, along with the Thudhamma Zayat and Maha Pahtan Ordination Hall, with the consultation of Tampawaddy U Win Maung.[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pitakataik.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Pay Phyo Khaing; Weerataweemat, Sonyot (2016). "สถาปัตยกรรมพระไตรปิฏกและคติกษัตราธิราชพุทธศาสนาในรัชสมัยพระเจ้ามินดง". สิ่งแวดล้อมสรรค์สร้างวินิจฉัย (in Thai). 1: 37–58.
  2. ^ a b c Yian, Goh Geok; Miksic, John; Aung-Thwin, Michael (2017-10-30). Bagan and the World: Early Myanmar and Its Global Connections. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. ISBN 978-981-4786-02-7.
  3. ^ U Thaw Kaung: The Learned Librarian of Myanmar. Myanmar Book Centre. 2005. p. 50.
  4. ^ Harris, Ian (2013). William M. Johnston (ed.). Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Routledge. p. 757. ISBN 9781136787157.
  5. ^ မင်းထက်အောင်(မန်းကိုယ်ပွား). "ရတနာပုံမန္တလေးရွှေမြို့တော်ကြီး သမိုင်းစာမျက်နှာသစ်ဖွင့်လှစ်နိုင်ခဲ့ပြီ". News and Periodical Enterprise (in Burmese). Ministry of Information. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  6. ^ ခင် ဆုဝေ (27 February 2013). "သတ်တဌာန နရောတောျသုံးခုအား ရှေးမူမပကြျ ပွုပွငျမညျ". Myanmar Times (in Burmese). Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
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