The visit of Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpeyi to Malayesia was followed by one more significant event in the region of South East Asia, although it did not attract wide notice and acclaim. The conference on "Sanskrit in South East Asian Countries- the harmonizing Factor of Cultures" was held from 21st to 23rd may, 2001at Bangkok under the auspices of Sanskrit Studies Centre of Silpacorn

University. Dr. Chirapat Prapandavidya, Director of the centre and his colleagues made all efforts to make
the conference a success. Dr. Haridatta Sharma of Allahabad University, who is at present working as
Visiting Professor in the centre for Sanskrit Studies at Silpacorn University also worked very hard to make
the academic deliberations meaningful.

The conference was inaugurated by Her Royal Highness the Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn. The Princess of Thailand, herself a Sanskrit Scholar of eminence, presented the perspective of Sanskrit studies in Thailand. Her address extensively dealt with her own efforts at studying Sanskrit texts and problems faced by her. The Princess not only remained present in the inaugural session, she participated in the next two academic sessions and contributed to the discussions also. Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi. Minister of HRD from our country presented his keynote address partially in chaste and elegant Sanskrit marked with erudition. He found Sanskrit as 'one language where endless writings have continued to pour on the theme of consciousness. From endless antiquity when Vedas were realized by seers, millions of varieties of experiences and realizations of various levels of consciousness have been recorded which will need to be
studied by all those who belong to the frontier areas of research.' He hoped that through this process 'Sanskrit will become a leading world language.'

As the theme of the conference focused on Sanskrit as a Harmon sing factor of cultures in SE countries, emphasis in the deliberations naturally went on the emerging trends and issues that led to the mutual understanding between these countries with particular reference to Indian milieu and Sanskrit.
A group of Brahmin boys of Thailand performed Sarasvati- vandana by Chanting Sanskrit verses on this
occasion. The recitation was delighting for its correct pronunciation and punctuations. Shri Sutham Saengprathum, Minister of University Afffais, Thailand, presented the report on the occasion of inauguration to Her Royal Highness. He accepted 'Sanskrit language as the vehicle for cultural links, as evinced from the language being mingled extensively with the regional languages.'

An enormous mass of Sanskrit literature was produced in SE Asian countries through epigraphical records.
These records provide an interesting study of the immense impact that Indian traditions had exerted in
these countries and they also furnish valuable information on the history and culture of these countries. These records belong to a vast range of time beginning from the 2nd-3rd century AD to 15th century AD. European scholars like Barth, Bergaigne, Finot, Coedes and others have been working on these records. H.B. Sarkar has collected 112 inscriptions form Java in his book. R.C.Majumdar (1953) records and gives an excellent accounts of 244 inscriptions from Cambodia. Majumdar (reprint 1985) has further recorded 130 inscriptions from Champa (now in Vietnam). Many of these inscriptions are composed by authors with literary bent, and they exhibit exquisite poetic skill. T.S. Maxwell (Germany) and Kamaleshwar Bhattacharya (France) and R.K.Vashishtha, Amarjiva Lochan , Vachaspati Upadhyaya and the present author presented their papers on various inscriptions and other epigraphical records. Many of these records are lying unedited and even unpublished and sustained efforts are needed for their collection, compilation and editing. The temples in SE Asian countries are invariably linked with Indian mythology. This was illustrated and demonstrated by M. Rajanthan (Malaysia), Kong Mangkornkarn (Thailand) and Haridatta Sharma. Chirapat Prapandavidya gave in interesting

account of Thai folktales and their Buddhist Sanskrit sources. The papers of Satyavrat Shastri (India),
Choosak Dipesorn, Manipin Phromsuthirak, Visudh Busyakul, Chamlong Sarapadnuke Srisurang Phoolthupya, Kusuma Raksamani (all from Thailkand) brought out the linguistic processes with regards to the adoption of Sanskrit words and phrases in Thai language. Impact of Sanskrit and Indioan traditions on
modern writings in countries like Malaydia also formed the theme of two of the papers by young scholars. The
conference in fact was the first venture of this kind and it is hoped that the frequency and regularity of
such conferences will usher in an era of new understanding between Indian and South East Asian Countries.