Улаанбаатар
"Sakhiusan Dara Ekh," the Smallest Sutra in Mongolia
Society
Ulaanbaatar, February 27, 2025 /MONTSAME/. At the beginning of the 20th century, a full member of the Institute of Scripture of Mongolia, lexicographer, and Tibet study scholar Shagj Sangajav of the Sadoo clan (1886-1938), created a book called “Sakhiusan Dara Ekh” [The Sutra of Great Deity Tara] in 1914, combining praises of the Green and White Tara. The scholar handwrote the sutra in Tibetan in black and red ink on Russian paper, fitting the text in the space of 4.5x5.0 cm.
The work of scholar Shagj was kept by academician-writer Damdinsuren Tsend for years and was handed over to the National Library on October 24, 1980, when a special exhibition hall for rare old books and scriptures was established. The sutra, regarded as the smallest book, contains 79 lines in Tibetan script in tiny space, comprised of 62 Tibetan stanzas, 250 lines, 5718 characters, and 2510 dots and marks.
It is said that Mr. Shagj wrote the sutra with a very fine-pointed pen or brush on a sunny summer day, covering the ger skylight (rooftop) and leaving a small hole to let the bright sunlight stream through it.
The book was inscribed on the List of the Precious Historical and Cultural Heritage of Mongolia by Decree No. 118 of the Government of Mongolia in 2002, and on the List of Documentary Heritage of the Asia-Pacific Register of the UNESCO "Memory of the World" Programme in 2014.
Width - 4.9 cm,
Length - 5.4 cm,
Thickness - 0.08 mm,
Weight - 0.2 g.
