Late Professor Raghu Vira envisioned the publication of the 108 volumes of the Mongolian Kanjur, which symbolizes the cultural bonds of India and Mongolia over the centuries, embodying the Mongolian versions of 1161 Sanskrit works, most of which have perished in India. His life was cut short by a car accident in 1963 and it is after constant perseverance for a decade that Dr.Lokesh Chandra fulfilled his father’s dream of bringing to light this immense corpus of the Mongolian Kanjur so that it became accessible to the world of learning as a foremost compendium of Mongolia’s literary legacy to mankind.

After a long lapse of three hundred years this second edition could appear in the land of Sakyamuni. With cultural renaissance in Mongolia from the 1990 where all the sets of the Kanjur were put on fire during the repressions, urgent need has arisen to consecrate the new monasteries with the sacred sutras. Eminent leaders and leading abbots have requested Indian leaders to replenish the library-altars of monasteries with the 108 volumes of the sacred canon.

This second edition is due to a generous support of a donor, who wants to remain anonymous, whose dynamic inspiration and sustained efforts have prevailed upon the National Mission for Manuscripts to make provision for its publication. Professor and Dr. Shashibala with her erudition and dedication has coordinated technical and academic details for the smooth and swift execution of this sacred undertaking. The present edition is India’s offering of the sacred pulse-beats of two millennia of Buddhism to the Mongolian people of their inheritance of inner values.

On the auspicious day of the Full Purnima (4thJuly, 2020) Honourable President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind ji presented the first five volumes of the Mongolian Kanjur to the people of Mongolia at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in presence of high dignitaries, social and religious personnel of India. As Ambassador I am honoured to accept this valuable gift on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Dharma. Later, during the recently held 8th Joint Commission meeting Dr. S. Jaishankar, EAM also handed over another 20 volumes of this majestic sutras to Mr. L. Oyun-Erdene, MP, Head of Cabinet Secretariat of the Mongolian Government and Co-chair of the Joint Commission.