A catalogue of manuscripts from Vat Mai Suvannaphumaram, Luang Prabang

This catalogue documents only the palm-leaf and paper manuscripts that have been digitized within the frame of the EAP1398 project. It is intended for use as a research reference. With the exception of seven paper manuscripts, the manuscripts documented and described in the catalogue are all written on palm-leaf. The vast majority of these palm-leaf manuscripts contain a single text running over one fascicle (phuk), although some contain more than one, and some even run to ten or more fascicles. However, many of the multi-fascicle manuscripts are incomplete with one or more fascicles missing. A number of manuscripts comprised of a single fascicle may have originally been part of a larger multi-fascicle manuscript, with the remaining fascicles now lost. Some manuscripts are complete and in good physical condition while others are lightly or severely damaged with parts of the text missing. The manuscripts, both palm-leaf and those on paper, contain various texts of several genres. Most of the texts are canonical Buddhist scriptures, homiletic texts called anisong, Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha’s previous existences), or other Buddhist literature. A number of secular texts also deserve our attention, for example treatises on language and grammar, didactic literature, or astrological and medical treatises, and customary law texts.