We are deeply honoured and delighted that the South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies Library has been selected as one of the distinguished institutions to receive the eighty-volume commemorative edition of the Tipitaka, published in Thailand in 2016 to mark the seventieth anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol’s accession to the throne.

The Thai monarchy has long upheld a well-established tradition of commissioning, presenting, and receiving editions of the Pali Canon. In 1893, King Rama V commissioned the first printed edition of the Tipitaka in Thailand, which was subsequently presented as a gift to institutions in more than twenty-five countries.

The 40-volume “King Bhumibol Edition” allows monks and Buddhist laity worldwide to chant the Tipiṭaka in a consistent, rule-based manner. It was presented to Prof. Nina Mirnig, Professor of Cultural and Intellectual History of Pre-Modern South Asia and deputy head of the ISTB, by H.E. Miss Pattarat Hongtong, ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Austria.

The accompanying 40-volume “Queen Sirikit Edition” which reproduces King Rama V’s use of Syām-Pāli annotation with additional notes, was received by Dr. Wolfgang Nikolaus Rappert, deputy librarian at the University Library of Vienna, and Dr. Sylvia Stapelfeld, librarian at the ISTB library.

The ISTB library provides an ideal home for this new edition of the Tipitaka. With a collection of more than 70,000 volumes in over ninety Asian languages, it serves as a vital centre for research and teaching in South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna.