A high-tech digital preservation laboratory was inaugurated at the historic Aluvihare Rock Temple in Matale today, September 30, 2026, dedicated to digitizing ancient Pali and Sinhala Ola leaf manuscripts with non-invasive multispectral imaging.

Aluvihare holds monumental significance in Buddhist history as the sacred rock cave sanctuary where Buddhist monks first committed the entire oral Pali Tripitaka canon into written Sinhala palm-leaf manuscripts during the 1st century BC under King Walagamba. The joint conservation effort between the Department of National Archives and Buddhist monastic councils utilizes specialized ultraviolet and infrared surface scanners to reveal faded textual characters without damaging brittle centuries-old palm leaves. Cultural historians noted that the digitized open-access repository will allow international academics and monastic researchers to examine foundational Buddhist philosophical texts in microscopic digital fidelity.