Moine scribe anonyme - Manuscrit sur feuilles de palmier sri-lankais du XIXᵉ siècle, en écriture cinghalaise transcrivant - 1800

This is a palm leaf (ola) manuscript from Sri Lanka, probably dating from the 19th century (mid or late).
• Support: palm leaves cut into rectangular strips, pierced with two lacing holes, connected by a fiber cord, between two protective dark wooden planks.
• Writing: Sinhala characters, used here to transcribe Pali, the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism.
• Content: a sutta from the Tipitaka (Buddhist canon). The presence of the classic formulas “evaṃ me sutaṃ” (“Thus have I heard”) at the beginning and of blessings related to nibbāna at the end confirms that it is indeed a Buddhist religious text.
• Condition: complete, legible, with consistent wear (browned leaves, slightly crumbling edges), without illuminations or lacquered decoration.
• Function: This type of manuscript was intended for Buddhist monasteries for liturgical recitation and the transmission of sacred texts.

The manuscript contains a Pali sutta from the Tipitaka, probably part of the Majjhima Nikāya or Samyutta Nikāya (collections of speeches).
The presence of evaṃ me sutaṃ and the conclusion with nibbāna is typical of a discourse attributed to Ānanda reporting the teachings of the Buddha.