Pitakataik

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pitakataik is a library of Buddhist scriptures, including the Tipiṭaka, found in Myanmar. It dates back to before colonial times.

During the Pagan Kingdom, King Anawrahta built a square pitakataik about 51 square feet in size, designed like a temple with a central plinth and a surrounding corridor, near the Tharabha Gate. Later kings Kyansittha, Htilominlo, and Kyaswa kept building them, making pitakataiks common for both royals and people.

By the First Toungoo Empire, the pitakataik was a key part of a royal capital and was built in Hanthawaddy (now Bago). In the Mrauk U period, 48 pitakataik were created within pagodas and monasteries, and many survive. The best-preserved is the Khain-Kaik Pitakataik, built by Min Phalaung in 1591 north of Htuparon Pagoda.

In the Konbaung dynasty, the pitakataik was one of seven essential structures for founding a royal capital, with royal pitakataiks in Amarapura, Inwa, and Mandalay. A British account from 1795 described the Amarapura pitakataik as the largest library between the Danube and China.

When Mandalay became a royal capital, King Mindon Min ordered a pitakataik at the foot of Mandalay Hill. In 1864, copies of Tipiṭaka were moved from the Amarapura pitakataik to the new Mandalay library. In 2013, Sitagu Sayadaw announced a donation to rebuild the Mandalay Pitakataik, with input from Tampawaddy U Win Maung. In the 1950s, Prime Minister U Nu ordered the construction of a Pitakataik in Yangon to house scriptures related to the Sixth Buddhist Council.