Manuscript

Item number B557 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Palm leaf manuscript with red wood covers and a long red cord. There is a decorative ivory rosette securing one end of the red cord fastener. The inside pages are covered in script and held in position by the threaded cord.

History Of Use

For use in a temple.

Specific Techniques

The letters would be incised into the palm leaf using a stylus made of metal or bone, then a dark pigment made from lamp-black or vegetable extracts was applied to accentuate the incisions. This method was especially popular throughout South India and Southeast Asia.

Narrative

Written in Malayalam script, with an iron stylus. Malayalam is a Brahmic script used to write Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, or Malayalam, a South Indian vernacular language spoken in Kerala, India.