A look at Nepal’s Oldest Illuminated Manuscript at the Cambridge University Library

KATHMANDU POST
By Sanyuka Shrestha

Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita dated 1015 AD

In the textbook titled Chitrakala (Painting) published by the Education Ministry for students of grades 9 and 10, the first mention under the history of Nepali art is of Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita dated 1015 AD. There is no accompanying image, and the textbook further claims that such manuscripts are preserved in Nepali museums. Min Bahadur Shakya’s pioneering work Sacred Art of Nepal dedicates a short paragraph and an unclear facsimile image from this same manuscript. This is all the information that Nepali students of art have about their oldest illustrated manuscript. Arguably the most significant out of the 450 documents that Daniel Wright took back with him after serving as a surgeon at the British Residency in Kathmandu from 1866-76, this copy of Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita was purchased by the Cambridge University Library in 1876. [More]