The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A delegation from Thailand presented an 80-volume World Tipitaka Sajjhaya Phonetic Edition to His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen on 23 June 2025 during a special ceremony held at the Grand Kuenrey of Tashichhodzong.
The Tipitaka is the oldest complete collection of Buddhist scriptures. During the First Buddhist Council, three months after the Parinirvana of Lord Buddha in Rajgir, the disciples of Lord Buddha gathered to recite the Buddha’s teachings, which were arranged and classified into what is called the Tipitaka. Also known as the Pali Canon, the Tipitaka forms the doctrinal foundation of the Theravada tradition of Buddhism, and is to the Theravada tradition what the Kangyur and Tengyur are to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
This historic presentation continues a legacy established over a century ago by King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao, Rama V of Thailand, then the Kingdom of Siam. In 1893, the Theravada Buddhist Canon Set was first published and gifted to many leading international libraries around the world.
The World Tipitaka Sajjhaya Phonetic Editions are a specially transcribed version of the Tipitaka using a phonetic system to preserve and standardise the original Pali pronunciation. They were developed to facilitate accurate oral transmission of the Tipitaka, ensuring that recitations maintain consistency across different linguistic backgrounds. The phonetic script represents the correct Pali pronunciation, making the editions useful for monks, scholars, and practitioners who rely on oral chanting and memorisation. The term Sajjhaya refers to the traditional recitation or chanting of Buddhist texts.
The World Tipitaka Sajjhaya Phonetic Editions comprise 80 volumes in two key editions, first published in 2016 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the accession to the throne of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand. The first edition, with 40 volumes, features the King Bhumibol Adulyadej Edition with Pali phonetic references, using the Siam script together with the Roman script. The second edition is the Pali Monotone Music Notation, known as the Queen Sirikit Edition.
The ceremony concluded with the offering of a thousand butterlamps and prayers.
A representative of the World Tipitaka Foundation, which published the volumes, said that the offering from the Kingdom of Thailand to Their Majesties reflects the friendship between the two countries, anchored in the close ties between the Royal Families of Bhutan and Thailand and the shared spiritual heritage of the two Kingdoms.
