Palm-leaf manuscript

Palm-leaf manuscripts (Chinese贝叶 经, Pinyin bèi yè jīng, Kannada: ತಾಳೆಗರಿ, Tamil: ஓலைச் சுவடி ) were on dried palm leaves ( Sanskrit: Pattra ) written. They were used to record actual and mythical narratives in South Asia and Southeast Asia. As a writing surface, the dried palm leaves in this region of the world had the same meaning as papyrus in ancient Egypt. After the invention of the alphabet in South Asia, people started on the leaves of talipot palm ( Corypha umbraculifera ) and the Palmyra palm ( Borassus flabelliformis ) to write.

The dried leaves were cut to 3.5 cm in a size of 15 cm and treated with a paste made of ragi, to make them soft. This natural material is prone to rot and is destroyed by silverfish. Therefore, a program written on a palm leaf manuscript has a limited life and must be copied at this time to a new palm leaf. With the spread of Indian culture to Southeast Asia, particularly to Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, the number of documents that were written on palm leaves rose. With the advent of printing presses in the early 19th century, the copying of texts disappeared on palm leaves. Many governments today seek to preserve the existing palm-leaf manuscripts (see also Oriental Research Institute Mysore ).