It was a moment of cultural amalgamation for Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Princess of Thailand, who received the maiden Indian Council for Cultural Relations World Sanskirt award on Monday. By S. S. Balan
The princess of Thailand, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, was humility personified at the ceremony where she was presented with the maiden World Sanskirt award, for the year 2015 by Vice President M Hamid Ansari at the Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in the capital city on Monday. “Honoured and humbled”, she said with a gracious smile. Her speech, though brief, conveyed in its essence on the importance of cultural exchange between countries through further opening up of the borders.
“Honoured and humbled to receive the first award instituted by ICCR. It’s a great honour to receive it from the Vice President of the country. The Thai language is very different from Sanskrit. But culturally its very similar,” she said after receiving the award that comprises US$ 20,000 (Twenty Thousand US Dollars), a Citation and a lapel Pin.
An eminent scholar of Sanskrit, Pali, cultural and historical studies, the princess is keenly interested in epigraphy and has been a patron of Sanskrit studies in Thailand and propagation of Sanskrit. “Sanskrit is important, and the corpus of scientific, philosophical, sacral, and poetic texts produced in this language is surely one of the richest, contributions to global textual culture ever, “ said the Vice President. He further said that the shaping of Indian genius owes much to Sanskrit, not only in the fields of spirituality and religion but also in the fields of art, poetry, and literature as also of science, ethics, and systems of philosophy and knowledge. “Sanskrit encompasses one of the largest literatures of any language, and incorporates the sacred literature of three of the world's major religions,” he added.
He added that the transition from an oral to a written form saw Sanskrit spread with breathtaking rapidity across southern and eastern Asia. “Thai and other Southeast Asian languages have strong roots in Sanskrit, which reflects their remote past relationship with Sanskrit. In Europe and in the United States also there has been a long and valuable tradition of scholarship in Sanskrit,” he said.
“Sanskrit literature embodies a comprehensive mapping of the human experience in its spiritual, emotional, mental and physical dimensions. The extensive literature offers an expansive view of human nature and its role in creation. It includes epics, profound scripture, subtle philosophy, voluminous mythology and exquisite poetry. Playwrights and poets have skillfully used the language to offer timeless insights into the human mind. The grandeur of epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana testify to it; so does the beauty of Kalidasa’s poetic genius, said the Vice President.
“Sanskrit has had an existence of 7000 years. It came into being between 4000-5000 BC,” said Professor lokesh Chandra, president ICCR. Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said that Sanskrit didn’t travel with arms and is the first true evidence of what we today call soft power.
Professor George Cardona from the University of Pennsylvania received the award for the year 2016.
She has singularly been responsible for making the University of Pennsylvania a centre of Sanskrit learning in North America.
