![Odia palm leaf manuscript](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Odia_palm_leaf_manuscript.JPG)
Palm-leaf manuscripts are
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
s made out of dried
palm leaves
The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. ...
. Palm leaves were used as
writing material
Writing material refers to the materials that provide the surfaces on which humans use writing instruments to inscribe writings. The same materials can also be used for symbolic or representational drawings. Building material on which writings or ...
s in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
and in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
and spread to other regions, as texts on dried and smoke-treated palm leaves of
Palmyra palm
''Borassus'' (palmyra palm) is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea.
Description
These massive palms can grow up to high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars; in so ...
or the
talipot palm
''Corypha umbraculifera'', the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also grown in Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand and the Andaman Islands. It is a flowering plant with the largest inf ...
.
[
]
Their use continued till the 19th century, when printing presses replaced hand-written manuscripts.
One of the oldest surviving palm leaf manuscripts of a complete treatise is a Sanskrit
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...
text from the 9th-century, discovered in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
, now preserved at the
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
.
[Pārameśvaratantra (MS Add.1049.1) with images]
, Puṣkarapārameśvaratantra, University of Cambridge (2015) The
Spitzer Manuscript
The Spitzer Manuscript is the oldest surviving philosophical manuscript in Buddhist Sanskrit, and possibly the oldest Buddhist Sanskrit manuscript of any type related to Buddhism discovered so far. The manuscript was found in 1906 in the form of a ...
is a collection of palm leaf fragments found in
Kizil Caves
The Kizil Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾千佛洞, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas; ug, قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, translation=The Thousand Red Houses; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') ar ...
, China. They are dated to about the 2nd-century CE and are the oldest known philosophical manuscript in Sanskrit.
History
![Sinhala palm-leaf medical manuscripts, open leaves, large image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Sinhala_palm-leaf_medical_manuscripts%2C_open_leaves%2C_large_image..JPG)
The text in palm leaf manuscripts was inscribed with a knife pen on rectangular cut and cured palm leaf sheets; colourings were then applied to the surface and wiped off, leaving the ink in the incised grooves. Each sheet typically had a hole through which a string could pass, and with these the sheets were tied together with a string to bind like a book. A palm leaf text thus created would typically last between a few decades and about 600 years before it decayed due to dampness, insect activity, mold and fragility. Thus the document had to be copied onto new sets of dried palm leaves.
The oldest surviving palm leaf Indian manuscripts have been found in colder, drier climates such as in parts of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
,
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
and
central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, the source of 1st-millennium CE manuscripts.
The individual sheets of palm leaves were called ''Patra'' or ''Parna'' in Sanskrit (Pali/Prakrit: ''Panna''), and the medium when ready to write was called ''Tada-patra'' (or ''Tala-patra'', ''Tali'', ''Tadi'').
[Amalananda Ghosh (1991), An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, BRILL Academic, , pages 360-361] The famous 5th-century CE Indian manuscript called the
Bower Manuscript
The Bower Manuscript is a collection of seven fragmentary Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. treatises found buried in a Buddhist memorial stupa near Kucha, northwestern China. Written in early Gupta script (late Brahmi script) on birch bark, it is var ...
discovered in
Chinese Turkestan
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, was written on
birch-bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...
sheets shaped in the form of treated palm leaves.
[
]Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...
s often served as centers where ancient manuscripts were routinely used for learning and where the texts were copied when they wore out. In South India, temples and associated mutts served custodial functions, and a large number of manuscripts on Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems ('' shad-darśana'') – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Andrew Nicholson ( ...
, poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
and other subjects were written, multiplied and preserved inside the temples. Archaeological and epigraphical evidence indicates existence of libraries called ''Sarasvati-bhandara'', dated possibly to early 12th-century and employing librarians, attached to Hindu temples. Palm leaf manuscripts were also preserved inside Jain temples and in Buddhist monasteries.
With the spread of Indian culture to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
n countries like as Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, and the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, these nations also became home to large collections. Palm-leaf manuscripts called ''Lontar'' in dedicated stone libraries have been discovered by archaeologists at Hindu temples in Bali Indonesia and in 10th century Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey ( km, បន្ទាយស្រី ) is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, north-east of the main group of temples ...
.
One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit manuscripts on palm leaves is of the ''Parameshvaratantra'', a Shaiva Siddhanta
Shaiva Siddhanta () (Tamil: சைவ சித்தாந்தம் "Caiva cittāntam") is a form of Shaivism that propounds a dualistic philosophy where the ultimate and ideal goal of a being is to become an enlightened soul through Shiv ...
text of Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
. It is from the 9th-century, and dated to about 828 CE.[ The discovered palm-leaf collection also includes a few parts of another text, the ''Jñānārṇavamahātantra'' and currently held by the University of Cambridge.][
With the introduction of ]printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
es in the early 19th century, the cycle of copying from palm leaves mostly came to an end. Many governments are making efforts to preserve what is left of their palm leaf documents.
Relationship with the design of writing systems
The round and cursive design of the letters of many South Indian and Southeast Asian scripts, such as Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...
, Nandinagari
Nandinagari is a Brahmic script derived from the Nāgarī script which appeared in the 7th century AD.George Cardona and Danesh Jain (2003), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, , page 75 This script and its variants were used in the central Dec ...
, Telugu, Lontara
Lontara or lontaraq () are Bugis-Makassar Palm-leaf manuscript, palm-leaf manuscripts that record knowledge on such topics as history, science, Norm (social), custom, and laws. The term originates from the Javanese language, Javanese/Malay langua ...
, Javanese, Balinese, Odia, Burmese, Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
, Khmer, and so forth, may be an adaptation to the use of palm leaves, as angular letters could tear the leaves apart.
Regional variations
Odisha
Palm leaf manuscripts of Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
include scriptures, pictures of Devadasi and various mudras of the ''Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...
''. Some of the early discoveries of Odia palm leaf manuscripts include writings like ''Smaradipika'', ''Ratimanjari'', ''Pancasayaka'' and ''Anangaranga'' in both Odia and Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
. State Museum of Odisha at Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
houses 40,000 palm leaf manuscripts. Most of them are written in the Odia script, though the language is Sanskrit. The oldest manuscript here belongs to the 14th century but the text can be dated to the 2nd century.
Kerala
File:Palm leaf manuscript Grantham.jpg, Palm leaf manuscript
File:Palm leaf manuscript. IMG 20210815 190725.jpg, Palm leaf manuscript
File:Palm leaf manuscript IMG 20210815 185730.jpg, Palm leaf manuscript
Tamil Nadu
In 1997 The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
) recognised the Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection as part of the Memory of the World Register
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
. A very good example of usage of palm leaf manuscripts to store the history is a Tamil grammar book named Tolkāppiyam
''Tolkāppiyam'', also romanised as ''Tholkaappiyam'' ( ta, தொல்காப்பியம், ''lit.'' "ancient poem"), is the most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature. The surviving manus ...
which was written around 3rd century BCE. A global digitalization project led by the Tamil Heritage Foundation collects, preserves, digitizes and makes ancient palm-leaf manuscript documents available to users via the internet.
Java and Bali
In Indonesia the palm-leaf manuscript is called lontar. The Indonesian word is the modern form of Old Javanese
Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the island ...
'. It is composed of two Old Javanese words, namely ' "leaf" and ' "''Borassus flabellifer
''Borassus flabellifer'', commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, wine palm or ice apple, is native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh & South India) and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socot ...
'', palmyra palm". Due to the shape of the palmyra palm's leaves, which are spread like a fan, these trees are also known as "fan trees". The leaves of the rontal tree have always been used for many purposes, such as for the making of plaited mats, palm sugar wrappers, water scoops, ornaments, ritual tools, and writing material. Today, the art of writing in ' still survives in Bali, performed by Balinese Brahmin as a sacred duty to rewrite Hindu texts.
Many old manuscripts dated from ancient Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, were written on rontal palm-leaf manuscripts. Manuscripts dated from the 14th to 15th century during the Majapahit period. Some were found even earlier, like the ''Arjunawiwaha
''Arjunawiwāha'' was the first ''kakawin'' appeared in the East Javan period of the Javanese classical Hindu-Buddhist era in the 11th-century. Arjunawiwaha was composed by Mpu Kanwa during the reign of King Airlangga, king of the Kahuripan Kingdo ...
'', the ''Smaradahana
''Smaradahana'', also known as ''Smaradhana'', ''Asmaradhana'', ''Asmaradahana'', ''Asmaradana'', ''Asmarandhana'' or ''Asmarandana'' is an old Javanese poem (''kakawin'') written by Mpu Dharmaja as the eulogy for King Kameçvara of Kediri in ea ...
'', the ''Nagarakretagama
The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a '' kakawin'' by Mpu Pr ...
'' and the ''Kakawin Sutasoma
''Kakawin Sutasoma'' is an Old Javanese poem in poetic meters ('' kakawin'' or '' kavya''). It is the source of the motto of Indonesia, '' Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'', which is usually translated as ''Unity in Diversity'', although literally it m ...
'', which were discovered on the neighboring islands of Bali and Lombok
Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is ...
. This suggested that the tradition of preserving, copying and rewriting palm-leaf manuscripts continued for centuries. Other palm-leaf manuscripts include Sundanese language works: the ''Carita Parahyangan Carita Parahyangan ( en, Tale of Parahyangan, official Sundanese script: ) is a text contained in a single manuscript written around the late 16th century, registered as Kropak 406 from the former collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kuns ...
'', the '' Sanghyang Siksakandang Karesian'' and the ''Bujangga Manik
Bujangga Manik is one of the precious remnants of Old Sundanese literature. It is told in octosyllabic lines — the metrical form of Old Sundanese narrative poetry — in palm-leaf manuscript kept in the Bodleian Library of Oxford University in ...
''.
Preparation and preservation
The palm leaves are first cooked and dried. The writer then uses a stylus to inscribe letters. Natural colourings are applied to the surface so the ink will stick in the grooves. This process is similar to intaglio printing. Afterwards, a clean cloth is used to wipe out the excess ink and the leaf manuscript is done.[Kumar, D. U., Sreekumar, G. V., Athvankar, U. A. (2009). Traditional writing system in Southern India — Palm leaf manuscripts. ''Design Thoughts, 7'', 2-7.] Details can be found in videos listed in the external links section.
See also
* Birch bark manuscript
Birch bark manuscripts are documents written on pieces of the inner layer of birch bark, which was commonly used for writing before the advent of mass production of paper. Evidence of birch bark for writing goes back many centuries and in various ...
* Folding-book manuscript
Folding-book manuscripts are a type of writing material historically used in Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in the areas of present-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. They are known as ''parabaik'' in Burmese,; . ''samut thai'' in Th ...
* Gandhāran Buddhist texts
* Ho trai
A ho trai ( th, หอไตร) is the library of a Thai Buddhist temple.
A ho trai can come in different shapes and sizes.
For many centuries, the sacred Tipiṭaka scriptures had been written on palm leaves. To preserve the scriptures aga ...
, library of Thai Temple
* Pitakataik ''Pitakataik'' ( my, ပိဋကတ်တိုက်; also spelt ''bidagat taik'' and ''pitaka taik'') is a library of Buddhist scriptures, including the Tipiṭaka, found in Buddhist societies in modern-day Myanmar (Burma).
History
The ''pitaka ...
, scriptural libraries in Myanmar
* Orihon
''Orihon'' (Japanese: 折本, Hepburn: Orihon, ) is a book style originating from the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-908) in China and was later developed in the Heian period (A.D. 794-1185) in Japan.
Construction
Orihon consist of a long strip of pap ...
, a concertina-folded book format originating in China and popularized in Japan
References
Further reading
*Production of manuscripts
"Engraving Balinese letter on a Lontar at Udayana University Bali"
Published by Lontar Library of Udayana University on 22 Jan 2012.
"How to ink up an inscribed palm leaf manuscript"
Published by Mellon Sawyer Seminar Eurasian Manuscripts of University of Iowa on 22 Feb 2017.
"How to make the Palm Leaf Manuscripts"
Published by Palm Leaf Manuscript Study & Research Library of University of Kelaniya on 20 Jul 2016.
"Ola Leaf manuscripts"
Published by OpportunitySriLanka.com on 4 Dec 2013.
*Preservation of manuscripts
"Traditional preservation method for oiling palm leaf manuscript leaves in Myanmar"
Video by Hlaing Hlaing Gyi at the University of Yangon Library in Myanmar. Uploaded 20 Oct 2016.
"தமிழ் சுவடிகள்: உண்மையும் நமது கடமையும்"
Published by Neelakandan Nagarajan Researcher Tamil Manuscripts, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Tharamani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, On 8 July 2019
"தமிழ் சுவடிகள்: உண்மையும் நமது கடமையும் [பாகம் 2]"
Published by Neelakandan Nagarajan Researcher Tamil Manuscripts, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Tharamani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, On 14 Juல்ய் 2020
External links
* Online Resources
** Digitised examples of palm leaf manuscripts can be viewed onlin
here
Making a palm leaf manuscript
(video), Arnab LHT, via youtube, October 2020.
{{Writing
Manuscripts by type
Palm trees in culture
Memory of the World Register
Hindu literature