Scripts Pali Script

The Middle Prakrit existed in many regional varieties, which eventually developed literatures of their own. Pali, the language of the Buddhist canonical writings, is the oldest literary Prakrit. It is supposed to be the language spoken by the Buddha but scholars believe that it was more likely he spoke a form of Magadhi, from eastern Bihar. It remains in liturgical use in Sri Lanka, Burma, now renamed Myanmar, and in sacred scripts used by Tibetans. Indian scripts travelled to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma although, as happened within India, each region evolved them further according to the writing materials they used. Bodhi, read and spoken by Buddhists of India, Tibet and Nepal can be seen as another offshoot of Sanskrit. Pali and many other variants took different paths, creating the multi-script and multi-lingual nature of India’s linguistic heritage.