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Two historically significant Sri Lankan documents have earned a place in UNESCO’s prestigious Memory of the World Register, highlighting the island’s rich cultural and intellectual legacy.
Sri Lanka has achieved international recognition as two of its invaluable historical documents have been officially inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. This recognition places the island nation alongside 74 global entries celebrated for their documentary heritage.
One of the honored entries is the Panadura Debate of 1873, a preserved collection of four critical texts housed at Rankoth Viharaya in Panadura. This debate is globally acknowledged for its peaceful intellectual exchange between Buddhist and Christian thought, showcasing the nation’s deep spiritual, cultural, and philosophical traditions.
The second recognized document is the Trilingual Inscription, also known as the Tribhasha Sellipiya, currently safeguarded at the National Museum. Discovered in 1911 by a British engineer, this remarkable stone tablet dates back to 15th February 1409 and was installed by Chinese Admiral Zheng He. It features inscriptions in Chinese, Tamil, and Persian—three languages symbolizing three great civilizations and trade cultures of the time—making it the only known inscription of its kind in the world.
The inclusion of these two pieces underscores Sri Lanka’s enduring role as a crossroads of cultural exchange and a beacon of historical dialogue.
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