RANDOM KNOWLEDGE: Ancient Tibetan Monestary Digitizes 84,000 Books

From An Ancient Tibetan Monastery Digitizes its Knowledge.

Tibet’s Sakya Monastery, founded in 1073, houses some of the oldest Tibetan artwork, as well as 84,000 ancient manuscripts and books.

In an attempt to preserve these ancient documents, the Sakya Monastery Library began digitizing its assets in 2011 and is well underway in its mission.

Most of the library's collection is made up of Buddhist scriptures. This relates back to the monastery being the most important seat of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. However, the library also contains pieces of literature, as well as works on history, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, and art. 

Among its most compelling assets are volumes of palm-leaf manuscripts, which have survived the passage of time thanks to the arid climate of the region, and the heaviest scripture in the world, which weighs 1,100 pounds.

His Holiness, the 41st Sakya Trizin stressed the importance of collecting, digitizing and publishing important texts to ensure an authentic and complete transmission of the Dharma to future generations.

Given the sheer size of the endeavor, it wasn't until 2022 that all books were indexed. So far, only 20% have been fully digitized and are available in the original Tibetan.