The Tradition of the Palm Leaf Manuscripts

Palm leaves have always been a common way of passing on information and wisdom in India. This article is an introduction to the Indian palm leaf manuscripts and all the why’s, what’s and when’s about this ancient medium of information and spiritual transmission.

What is a Palm Leaf Manuscript

The palm leaves are created from the leaf of a palmyra palm tree with the botanical name borassus flabellifer.

Palm trees are found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates, and they are native to both the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

In the early days of the written language in India, many mediums were used to store information, including stones slabs, copper plates, tree bark and of course, palm leaves. Using the correct preservation method, a palm leaf can withstand around 300 years and thus last through the ages.

How palm leaves become manuscripts

A special method is used to choose the leaves used for a palm leaf manuscript. The leaf should not be too tender or too matured. Once an appropriate leaf is chosen, it is cut into the required shape, and is then heated in sacred water (pure river water) or milk. After this, they are shade-dried, which is important because direct sunlight can make the palm leaf too brittle to write upon. Dried leaves are then pressed with wooden planks to level and flattened, the corners trimmed, and the leaf is polished.

Following this, small holes are made at the ends and chords are passed through the holes. Two wooden planks are then prepared according to the dimensions of the palm leaf and placed on both ends. This binding process is similar to the way we would bind books to protect them. Now the palm leaf is ready for the author to express his knowledge upon it. The author writes onto the leaf using a pointed metal stylus.

For the most part, these leaves were used in the olden days, just like we would use paper in the present day. Palm leaf manuscripts were used from as far back as 80 thousand years ago.

Normally, the palm leaf manuscript, and the palm leaf prophecy contained within it, has a lifespan of 300-350 years. Before a palm leaf decays. the manuscript is carefully copied onto a new palm leaf. Thus, the information and wisdom it contains is preserved for the next generation.

In the case of the palm leave predictions, the palm leaf manuscripts were created by Rishis and their scribes. They used the leaves to record details about the lives of a great number of people. They hoped that one day the contents of the leaves would make it to the one the leaf was written for to benefit their lives.

After talking through some aspects regarding these fascinating palm leaves, we hope you have learnt something new today! Please continue to this post about the palm leaves as medium of wisdom and knowledge

published: 04/08/2021