The provincial government in the southern province of An Giang has approved a project for preservation and promotion of heritage values of palm-leaf manuscripts of Khmer people in the province.
The project, which lasts until 2030, has a significant meaning for the Khmer community in the province.
The Khmer community in An Giang resides mostly in the two districts of Tri Ton and Tinh Bien, and possesses a cultural diversity, including the knowledge and writing technique in palm leaves, especially palm-leaf Buddhist scriptures.
These palm-leaf Buddhist scriptures feature technical, artistic and spiritual values in the religious life of Khmer people. Palm-leaf Buddhist scriptures have been preserved in 30 out of 36 Buddhist Khmer pagodas in Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts, with the total of 100 sets of Buddhist scriptures.
The approved project aims to preserve these palm-leaf manuscripts for later generations, and engage local communities in preserving and promoting artistic and intellectual values of the palm-leaf manuscripts’ heritage.
In the first phase of the project, from 2022-2026, the provincial authorities of An Giang will focus on the survey, examination and classification of the palm-leaf manuscripts; identification of the ancient language used in palm-leaf writings; and guiding measures for preserving these palm-leaf manuscripts.
This first phase also will also digitalize palm-leaf manuscripts, make new copies of the original palm-leaf manuscripts for purpose of education and tourist promotion, and translate some contents of palm-leaf Buddhist scriptures.
The second phase of the project will compile a dossier seeking the recognition of the heritage of the knowledge documents and the palm-leaf writing technique of Khmer people in An Giang as part of the UNESCO’s Global Memory of the World in the Asian-Pacific region.
The Khmer community in the southern An Giang province currently possesses two heritages classified as national intangible cultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, namely the Bay Nui (seven-mountain) Cow Race Festival recognized in 2016 and the palm-leaf knowledge and writing technique of Khmer people in the two district of Tri Ton and Tinh Bien classified in 2017./.
PTT
