The Piṭakataik (also called the Buddhist Tripitaka Library) is a ''

pitakataik ''Pitakataik'' (; 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 er ...

'' or Buddhist library located in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. Commissioned by Prime Minister

U Nu Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...

in the mid-1950s, it was designed to house Buddhist scriptures and writings associated with the Sixth Buddhist Synod. Despite being part of a larger

Kaba Aye Pagoda Kaba Aye Pagoda (; ; also spelt Gaba Aye Pagoda; lit. World Peace Pagoda), formally Thiri Mingala Gaba Aye Zedidaw, ), is a Buddhist pagoda located on Kaba Aye Road, Mayangon Township, Yangon, Myanmar. The pagoda was built in 1952 by U Nu ...

complex, the library remains relatively secluded and is often overlooked by visitors. The library still houses thousands of original Buddhist

folding-book manuscripts Folding-book manuscripts are a type of writing material historically used in Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in the areas of present-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. They are known as ''parabaik'' in Burmese, ''samut thai'' in Thai o ...

History

U Nu envisioned the library as a spiritual and intellectual repository that would preserve

Pāli Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Therav� ...

scriptures from various

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

countries, as well as new religious writings produced during the Sixth Synod held in Yangon in 1954–56. The library was designed by

Benjamin Polk 280px, Narayanhity Palace Museum (formerly Narayanhity Royal Palace) in Nepal.html" ;"title="Kathmandu, Nepal">Kathmandu, Nepal Benjamin Kauffman Polk (18 May 1916 – 23 April 2001) was an American designer and architect, best known for his ...

, an American architect who had settled in India and partnered with

Joseph Allen Stein Joseph Stein (10 April 1912 – 6 October 2001) was an American architect and a major figure in the establishment of a regional modern architecture in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1940s and 1950s during the early days of the environmental ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. Polk was chosen for the project due to his sensitivity to cultural and religious symbolism, and his adaptability to Modernist architecture within traditional contexts. Construction began around , coinciding with the conclusion of the Sixth Synod. Indian site manager Visvanath Jhanjee oversaw the project, which faced multiple setbacks, including the murder of a Chinese carpenter foreman, the dismissal of the first site engineer due to alcoholism, and political instability, as Prime Minister U Nu was temporarily ousted by General Ne Win from 1958 to 1960. Despite these challenges, the library was completed around 1960–61, during U Nu’s return to power.

Design

The library is noted for its unusualy modernist radial design. The building is organised in a circular, radial plan, inspired by the

Sanchi Stupa Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...

in India, while the three stories represent the Three Baskets of Wisdom (i.e., the

Tripitaka There are several Buddhist canons, which refers to the various scriptural collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures or the various Buddhist scriptural canons.

). The building uses

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

, allowing for innovative structural elements such as cantilevered Burmese-style arches reminiscent of the ancient architecture of

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

, and is adorned with lotus motifs at the entrance and throughout the design, evoking Buddhist iconography. The building was divided into three wings — a public library, an auditorium, and a religious museum — which surround a central core, intended as a sanctuary for monks and scholars, dedicated to study and meditation. The building was centred on landscaped gardens and an artificial lake, which no longer exists.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Yangon Libraries in Myanmar Buddhist libraries Libraries established in 1961 Modernist architecture