Bhesajjamanjusava. The plan leaf manuscript of Sri Lanka indigenous medical text book written in Pali

Bhesajjamanjusava is the only medical text ever known to be written in Pali language which belongs to the reign of king Parakramabhahu II (1236-1271 AD) of Dambadeniya era. This contains 60 chapters dedicated to fundamentals, healthy conducts, foods, prodromal signs, prognosis and treatments for different types of diseases. This is historically valuable documentary heritage which holds both the national and global importance in Pali literature and indigenous medical lore. This classical version of traditional medicine evidently quotes references of many ancient medical texts some of which are not available but might have been used by contemporary scholars. This book represents linguistic, historical and cultural elements in Dambadeniya period and it is therefore a good source of literary research to investigate the development knowledge systems with foreign impact. The reference sources cited by the text are significantly providing the existing documented knowledgebase at the time of composing. This is the only medical text that gives a versatile list of reference sources including historically valuable literary sources of which the physical availability is not recorded.