• Researchers and students of Pali celebrated the 'Vishwa Pali Gaurav Diwas' in honour of the ancient language on September 17
• TRIBILS had earlier created a world record by training over 2,500 students in the basics of Brahmi Lipi
• The festival aims to inspire and encourage more youngsters and provide free training to those interested

NASHIK, Sept 22, 2016: The city-based Trirashmi Research institute of Buddhism and Indic Languages (TRIBILS) organised a fest in September to spread awareness and encourage youngsters to read the 'Pali' language.

The festival 'Vishwa Pali Gaurav Diwas' is celebrated in the honour of Anagarika Dharmapala whose birth anniversary, which was on September 17. He was a Sri Lankan Buddhist writer known for the revival of Buddhism in India after it was nearly extinct for several centuries, reported a news portal.

TRIBILS is associated with central government's archaeology department and is involved in decoding and representing the stone edicts of the pre-historic era. Atul Bhosekar, TRIBILS President said to TOI that proper awareness and technical knowledge of the Pali language and scriptures will add many unknown chapters in the Indian history.

"According to central government's department of archaeology, there are over 1.5 lakh stone edicts across the country. Of this, only 50,000 have been read and translated at the present. Many historic documents remain undiscovered because of lack of awareness. We are on a mission to decode these records, but we need more youngsters to learn Pali and join the movement," Bosekar said to TOI.

He added, Nashik and its neighbouring areas have an ample number of stone edicts dating back to the reign of Ashoka. Earlier, Bhosekar's students had presented a simplified form of the emperor's declarations to Thailand's princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol. The relics were discovered in Girnar in Gujarat.

"After this project, we had taken it on as a mission to decode all 14 rock edicts available in the Girnar area. But, this is just a fraction of a large number of stone edicts available in India. We need more youngsters to join in and learn Pali to bring reveal new chapters of history," he said.

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According to TOI, TRIBILS had earlier created a world record by training over 2,500 students in the basics of Brahmi Lipi. Apart from this, 250 students are completing graduate and postgraduate education in Pali through the organisation.

In all, 15 students have completed their masters, while 8 have completed MPhil in this language."The Pali Gaurav Diwas is to remember that the study of this language has great potential. Pali will tell us about India's real history," Bhosekar said.

– prepared by Anubhuti Gupta of Newsgram. Twitter: @anuB_11