KAMALIKA PIERIS

Palm leaf manuscripts were always respected in Sri Lanka, but they did not receive much publicity. They were treated as respected but obscure collections, seen only by dedicated researchers. Today, palm leaf manuscript collections of Sri Lanka are   getting more publicity and more promotion.

Here is a research project which specifically focused on palm leaf manuscripts. Udaya Cabral. Lakshan Dhananyaja Kumara and T. Ramanan (2025) have looked at Ancient Sinhala Numeral Systems Discovered from Palm-leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka. [1]They found three systems, Sinhala Illakkam (සිංහල ඉලක්කම්),  Lith Illakkam (ලිත් ඉලක්කම්), and Pansal Hodiya (පන්සල් හහෝඩිය). Sinhala Illakkam was the oldest numbering method, followed by Lith Illakam and  Pansal Hodiya.

The researchers looked at palm leaf manuscripts from the following  monasteries. Kumara Kanda Rajamaha Viharaya, Dodanduwa   627 manuscripts ,  Ethkanda Rajamaha Viharaya, Kurunegala 780, Nikawewa Raja Maha Viharaya, Nikawewa 531, Ginipenda Viharaya, Kalugamuwa 532 ,Madawala Shilabimbaramaya, Madawala 235 ,Viharegama Raja Maha Viharaya, Narammala 350 ,Vidyananda Piriwena, Nittambuwa 390, Vidyalankara Pirivena, Kelaniya 480, Vidyananda Piriwena, Nittambuwa 390 ,Vidyalankara Pirivena, Kelaniya 480 ,Bothale Raja Maha Viharaya, Mirigama 425 ,Purana Mirigama Viharaya, Mirigama 218, Total 4,568 .

The management of valuable palm leaf collections are now discussed at professional level. C.N.K.Alahakoon,      wrote on Development of policies for access, management and preservation of the Palm-leaf manuscript collection of the University of Peradeniya library for Sri Lankan Journal of Librarianship and Information Management, vol 1 2009

Three ‘pirivena’ Universities, University of Sri Jayawardene, University of Kelaniya and Buddhasharvaka Bhikku University, have publicized their palm leaf collections and invited readers to use them.

Sri Jayawardenepura library announced in its website that it had Buddhist manuscripts including    Saddarmaratnawaliya,  Saddarmalankaraya, Manorathapuranaya, Pirithpotha, Gihi Piritha, Buddhawandanawa, Siri Dalada Puwatha, Sathipattan Suthraya, Chula Kamma Vibanga Suthraya, Arahath Vandanava in its collection. Rare indigenous medicine palm leaf manuscripts are available in our collections, such as Besajjamanjusa Sannaya, Waidyalankaraya, and Saraswathi Niganduwa, remedies and medicines for animal diseases and palm leaf manuscripts on Shanthikarma. They invited readers to use the collection.[2]

The Palm-leaf Manuscript Preservation and Conservation Project, of Sri Jayawardenepura University , invited the general public to donate palm- leaf manuscripts they possess to the university library, to be preserved and maintained as an academic collection. We are receiving positive feedback from all around the country, from Anuradhapura, Diyatalawa, Kurunegala and Kandy, the University said in 2019.[3]

University of Kelaniya announced in its website that it had a palm leaf   collection   which included thripitaka,  attakathas, teekas, literature, various kind of medication, as well as astrological and black magic manuscripts.[4] The collection was open to the public.  The collection was also open to the Kelaniya University undergraduates.   Fifteen undergraduates have already completed their thesis using data from this library, said the website (date not provided).

Ven. Bopeththe Somananda did a Comparative Study of the Understanding of Undergraduates  on the Palm Leaf Manuscripts in the   library”.[5]The study was to find out whether university students were aware of the importance of Palm Leaf Manuscripts. A sample of undergraduates from the Department of Library Science, History and Archeology from the University of Kelaniya participated. The study showed that the students had a general understanding of palm leaf manuscripts

University of Kelaniya  set up a Palm Leaf Manuscript Study and Research Library in 2010. One activity was the digital preservation of palm leaf manuscripts. Kelaniya has digitized palm leaf manuscripts collections   belonging to many temples and individuals, and has displayed a long list of them. This is the only University library providing Island wide palm leaf digitalization, said Kelaniya.[6]

Piyadasa Ranasinghe, Librarian of Kelaniya University and W.M. Tharanga Dilruk Ranasinghe presented a paper titled ‘Preserving Sri Lanka’s Traditional Manuscript Culture: Role of the Palm Leaf Digitization Project of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya’ at the IFLA 2013 Conference, Singapore. –  [7]

Buddhashravaka Bhikku University of Sri Lanka, established 1996, located in Anuradhapura, announced online on its website, in a special section, that it has valuable Palm Leaf Manuscript Collection of more than 500 manuscripts   This collection includes significant Buddhist texts such as the Tripitaka, Aṭṭhakathā (Commentaries), Ṭīkā (Sub-commentaries), along with manuscripts covering Buddhist philosophy, monastic discipline, history, traditional medicine, astrology, linguistics. They could be   searched online.[8]

Many palm leaf manuscript collections in libraries   lacked a catalogue of its holdings. That is because Olas   needed a special skill in reading, and   cataloguing of palm leaf manuscripts is   a highly specialized activity.  I once tried to read a palm leaf manuscript. I   could not    spot where one sentence ended and the other began and the person listening to me got fed up.  The writing was difficult to decipher as well.

 The National Archives had classified the manuscripts in the Dalada Maligawa Pattirippuwa library( 564 manuscripts ),Raja Maha vihara Pelmadulla (99) and Ariyakkara vihara, Mihiripenna   (195} . 300 medical,   astrological and yantra manuscripts in the  National Museum, Colombo  had been cataloged by  K.D.L. Wickremaratne , a former assistant  librarian of the Museum.  These four lists, improved by N.Samarasinghe,  Chief Librarian, Ladies College were published in the book Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka”, by Sirancee Gunawardena. She has also included the catalogue of the collection at Royal Copenhagen library, prepared by C.Godakumbure.

K.D. Somadasa, former Librarian of University of Ceylon hasmade a significant contribution to cataloguing    Sri Lanka   palm leaf manuscripts. His work should be recognized. He catalogued three important collections of Sri Lanka palm leaf manuscripts. Firstly, he prepared a Catalogue of the palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka, ”Lankave Puskola Pot Namavaliya” published by Department of Cultural Affairs, Colombo 1959.

In the late 1970s, Somadasa went to London, to work at the British Library. He spent about 20 years meticulously cataloguing the 2,224 papers in the Hugh Neville Collection. This catalogue was published in seven volumes in the 1980s and 1990s.[9]   Somadasa also prepared a Catalogue of the Sinhalese manuscripts in the library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London,” This was published in 1996. ( continued)

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[1] https://jula.sljol.info/articles/8105/files/67ee4f5364091.pdf

[2] https://lib.sjp.ac.lk/buddhist-manuscripts/

[3] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/190421/plus/ancient-manuscripts-from-around-the-country-under-one-roof-345837.html

[4] https://ss.kln.ac.lk/units/plmsrl/index.php/about-us/who-are-we

[5] https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/article/10.11648/10051669

[6] https://ss.kln.ac.lk/units/plmsrl/index.php/component/content/article/84-news/89-digital-collection?Itemid=437

[7]https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/rare-books-and-manuscripts/ProgramSessions/abstract_ranasinghe.pdf

[8] https://busl.ac.lk/library/palm-leaf-collection/

[9] https://island.lk/kd-somadasas-contribution-to-hugh-nevills-work/