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Jan. 5th, 2013|10:22 pm |
Convention of palm leaf manuscripts writing
The natural life span of a palm leaf is around 400 years therefore it was a customary practice that whenever a palm leaf decays, its contents were transferred on to fresh new leaves. If preserved well its life can extend to more the 500 years. Ancient literature and scholarly works were passed on to the newer generation by copying the older manuscripts. John Samuel says, “Lifespan of a palm leaf manuscript is about 300-350 years. The present manuscripts are mere copies of the earlier manuscripts which are also replications. Manuscripts have been copied from generations to generations by a set of people. Each time a manuscript gets old or decays it is transferred on to a new leaves, these new ones are then preserved, the older manuscripts are either burnt in ghee or thrown into the river”. Palm leaf manuscript writing is a skilled activity which requires patience, practice and training. A common man cannot easily take to writing on palm leaves. In olden days, writing on palm leaves was practiced as a profession by some; they were called as Lipikaras – copyist (Kamat, 2000). There are references of families who belong to the generation of palm leaf manuscript writing (Kumar, Athavankar, & Sreekumar, 2009, p. 4).
no Black and White in Indian Typography, by Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam |
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