''Pitakataik'' ( my, 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 The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...

era,

Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw ( my, အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone ...

commissioned a square-shaped ''pitakataik'' that measured , built in the style of a temple with a central plinth surrounded by a corridor, located from the Tharabha Gate. Subsequent monarchs, including

Kyansittha Kyansittha ( my, ကျန်စစ်သား, ; also spelt as Kyanzittha or Hti-Hlaing Shin; 1030 – 1112/13) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He cont ...

Htilominlo Htilominlo ( my, ထီးလိုမင်းလို, ; also called Nadaungmya or Zeya Theinkha Uzana; 1175 – 1235) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1211 to 1235. His 24-year reign marked the beginning of the gradual declin ...

, and

Kyaswa Kyaswa ( my, ကျစွာ, ; 1198–1251) was the king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1235 to 1251. Kyaswa succeeded his father Htilominlo and was even more devout.Harvey 1925: 59Coedès 1968: 183 Kyaswa's reign like his father ...

, continued the tradition of building ''pitakataiks'' during their reigns, ushering in a tradition of royals and laypersons alike commissioning ''pitakataiks''. By the

First Toungoo Empire The First Toungoo Empire ( my, တောင်ငူ ခေတ်, ; also known as the First Toungoo Dynasty, the Second Burmese Empire or simply the Toungoo Empire) was the dominant power in mainland Southeast Asia in the second half of the ...

era, the ''pitakataik'' was considered a requisite edifice for a royal capital, and was built in

Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar , reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581 , coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...

's capital of Hanthawaddy (now

Bago, Myanmar Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...

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

Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...

, 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. A royal ''pitakataik'' was built in each of the Konbaung kingdom's royal capitals, including Amarapura,

Inwa Inwa (, or ; also spelled Innwa; formerly known as Ava), located in Mandalay Region, Myanmar, is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerou ...

, and Mandalay. According to an contemporaneous British account in 1795, the Pitakataik at Amarapura was described as the largest library between the Danube and China. During the establishment of Mandalay as a royal capital, King

Mindon Min Mindon Min ( my, မင်းတုန်းမင်း, ; 1808 – 1878), born Maung Lwin, was the penultimate King of Burma (Myanmar) from 1853 to 1878. He was one of the most popular and revered kings of Burma. Under his half brother King P ...

commissioned the construction of a ''pitakataik'' at the foot of

Mandalay Hill Mandalay Hill ( ) is a hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre of Mandalay in Myanmar. The city took its name from the hill. Mandalay Hill is known for its abundance of pagodas and monasteries, and has been a major pilgrimage ...

. Copies of Tipiṭaka texts were relocated from the Amarapura Pitakataik and deposited at the newly constructed library in January 1864. In October 2013, the

Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara ( my, ဉာဏိဿရ; ) best known as Sitagu Sayadaw (), is a Burmese meditation teacher and prolific Buddhist scholar. He is also the founder of Sitagu International Buddhist Academy. His work as a teacher began in 1977 a ...

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.

References

{{Authority control Libraries in Myanmar Buddhist libraries

History

See also

References