Venerating the Buddha: a pap tup folding book

[Buddhist folding book manuscript]. [Theravada Buddhist prayer book].

€ 950.00

A Buddhist folding book, decorated with floral designs and golden paint, in the style most often found in Shan manuscripts. The work includes a collection of Buddhist prayers, introduced by the chant "Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa", a popular Theravada veneration of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, often used to begin a chant or prayer. Folding books like these (parabaik in Burmese, pap tup in Shan) often preserve selections of the canonical texts of Theravada Buddhism, drawing both on the official Pali-language canon (the Tipitaka) and more locally popular, non-canonical exegesis in Shan and Pali.

Such manuscripts were prepared for wealthy families, with the finest being commissioned by Buddhist kings. This example would likely have been commissioned by a family or individual as an offering to a local Buddhist temple, often donated in the name of a deceased family member, who would then acquire merit from the deed.

Folding books have an ancient history in southeast Asia and in Buddhism especially, where they preserve major canonical texts as well as local Buddhist prayers, practices, and stories.