{"id":156308,"date":"2026-05-20T16:23:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=156308"},"modified":"2026-05-20T16:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:23:34","slug":"palm-leaf-manuscripts-of-sri-lanka-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/20\/palm-leaf-manuscripts-of-sri-lanka-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"PALM LEAF MANUSCRIPTS OF SRI LANKA Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Sirancee Gunawardena, the author of \u2018Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka \u2018(1977) met J. Pannila of Artigala south, Hanwella when she was researching palm leaf manuscripts.   He was then a village elder and was the descendant of   a long line of palm leaf manuscript writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pannila had told Sirancee how the palm leaf is prepared as writing material and she has reproduced the information in her book.  It is possible to infer from the knowledge shown by     Pannila that palm leaf manuscripts writers were also trained in preparing the palm leaf, and in preserving the manuscript as well as writing on it.  I think there may have been others who lacked the skill of writing, but who knew to prepare the item and to preserve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In   Sri Lanka palm leaf manuscripts were made out of the young fronds of  the Talipot palm. Talipot  was able to resist the tropical climate of Sri Lanka.  Pannila said, before the leaf bud opens, rings of bamboo are put 18 inches apart round the main leaf (sic).  After 21 days, the branch is cut and brought down carefully, from the crown of the tree which is usually about 60 feet above ground. The mid rib of each leaf is cut off and the leaves become flexible strips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaves are wound up into rolls. These are put into a large clay pot, with layers of pineapple leaves in between.  Pot is filled with water and Kappetiya branches are placed on top, the vessels is sealed with a cloth and heated over a fire.  The palm leaves were considered sufficiently boiled when the leaves of the Kappetiya fell off.  The rolls were then taken out and washed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaves were polished by rubbing them against a rounded pole of Walla wood, till the strips became flat. They were hung on a coir rope, like a clothes line, and kept outdoors for a week or so, get a fine polished texture. They were now ready for writing. The leaf strip was placed on a piece of soft wood and held in the left hand for writing with the right hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing was done with the Panhinda. This stylus had a steel tipped quill. The end of the quill was like that of an arrow, both sides were sharp and the edge was pointed to obtain sharp outlines. There were different sized quills.  Some broader than others. Sharp, small size stylus was used for drawings. Sirancee owned two stylus, one long stylus with an ornate fan shaped top and another with two decorative metal globules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ordinary stylus was traditionally hand made by the village blacksmith. But there were elaborate ones with ornate gold, metal, ivory or carved wooden handles. The gold stylus was made of pure gold except for the stylus which was of steel. The gold stylus was a symbol of prestige.  The Ananda Coomaraswamy collection has a golden stylus with royal ensign \u2018SrI\u2019. It is said to have been originally given by King Narendrasinha to Alagaboda Nilame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The stylus was treated with respect.Sirancee pointed out that the Maha Lekammitiya and stylus were carried in the Dalada temple procession in the Esala perahera.  The Matale Mahadivase Kadainmpota    said Niharepola Alahakoon Mohottala was appointed lekam of Tunkorale and received the ran Panhinda and flag\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Inscribing a palm leaf was a skilled task. A scribe had to go through a long period of training before he was allowed to write   on ola. Only very experienced writers were allowed to inscribe a major work. The handwriting in a manuscript therefore was very beautiful and were works of art, said Sirancee. Letters were uniform and evenly spaced.  Palm leaf drawings were fine line drawings, which required great skill.  Circles and shapes were drawn free hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The manuscript usually starts with the auspicious word \u2018Svasti\u2019, with the latter \u2018ka\u2019 below it.  The text commenced with traditional salute to the Buddha and ended with a colophon which gave the name of the author and promoter and some times the scribe and the date.  But most authors were anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palm leaf manuscripts were numbered starting from the Sinhala letter Ka according to the Sinhala alphabet.  words were written from left to right. There are no punctuation marks and no spaces between words. There were margins and a symbol to demarcate paragraphs.  Most manuscripts   only had text, but there were many with illustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words scratched on the ola had to be made visible. Inking was a special art.  The process was called Kalumadima. The palm leaf was rubbed with a soft cloth dipped in Dummala oil and powdered charcoal obtained from the Godama tree. The surface of the leaf was then cleaned with rice bran (Dahaiyya).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dummala used was a resin derived from a fossilized root of a plant called Hal ((vateria acuminata).  It was dug out from paddy fields and river beds, on the two auspicious days, Wednesdays and Saturday. The dummala was distilled in an earthen pot with the outside coated in cow dung and clay. The distilling was done between 6 pm and 2 am in the garden. Ten pounds of Dummala produced about 2 bottles of oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When palm leaves were gathered together to form a single text, they resembled books. The manuscripts seen by Sirancee averaged 60-65 folios, but there were many which were larger. One manuscript had 311 folios.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Creating this \u2018book\u2019 was also a special process. The leaves were cut into the required size, usually two inches wide and between 8 and 18 inches in length. The inscribed leaves were placed one under the other.  Holes were punched with a hot rod, and a cord passed through. The punching of holes was done according to   rules given as verse. Fold the leaf into three then into four and make the holes in between the creases at the two ends. One manuscript seen by Sirancee   was stitched together and opened like an accordion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Folios were placed between two covers known as Kamba. Most manuscripts had wooden covers, of ebony, jak, milla, calamander and other hard woods.  The covers were decorated in lac with   flower designs, such as Jasmin, kadupul, lotus, liya wela,creepers,. Some were decorated with geometric designs, or rope design. Some had ivory inlay, others had contrasting wood in marquetry, tortoise shell was also used. One manuscript   had ebony cover inlaid with ivory. the button was of tortoise shell.  At Katarangala in Halloluwa  they found a  pirit pota with covers in dainty design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Highly venerated manuscripts such as those on Buddhism had covers of ivory or silver, and were decorated with gem stones. These are kept safely. Malwatte temple had a palm leaf manuscript on Abhidamma written in Sinhala, with ivory covers, a border of rubies and blue sapphires and a design of flowers set in gold.  Malwatte had another manuscript, with cover in silver and gold and a floral design richly encrusted with white sapphires and zircons.  Hanguranketa temple had a manuscript with gem studded covers. Pelmadulla Raja maha vihara also had a manuscript with carved ivory cover. Several other manuscripts   had gem studded covers. National Museum library had a manuscript on Abhidamma with an ornamented cover in brass. SWRD Bandaranaikecollection had a manuscript with silver cover and gems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formula for making oil for preserving manuscripts is a heavily guarded secret, said Sirancee. Pannila had a secret formula which was handed down generation to generation and was known only to a few families.   Pannila gave Sirancee the formula in appreciation of her interest in the subject. Sirancee has gven the formula and method, with   photographs, in her book on pages 38-40. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pannila  had been commissioned by the National Museum library to apply his secret oil to the palm leaf manuscripts which needed preserving. He was also invited to temple libraries and to the Institute of Indigenous medicine at Rajagiriya to clean and restore their manuscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Sirancee stated that palm leaf manuscripts stored on wooden shelves   did not deteriorate despite the humid climate. Manuscripts kept in pettagama tended to disintegrate, she said. But Nagolle Raja Maha vihara was a well-known exception. The olas stored in its pettagama remain well preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Library of Sri Lanka has   a Preservation and Conservation Centre (PAC) which pays special attention to palm leaf manuscripts. The IFLA PAC Centre was inaugurated on 5th<\/sup> August 2015.  The Centre produces Panhida Herbal Oilfor the conservation of palm leaf manuscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Udaya Cabral, who heads the PAC, with M Ravikumar, and T Ramanan presented a paper titled Developing a strategicprogram for safeguarding palm-leaf manuscripts in Sri Lanka at IFLA Conference, 2018.In 2021 the National Library issued a report on best practices for the conservation of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts, prepared by Udaya Cabral and R.M Nadeeka Rathnabahu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabraal and Ratnabahu said that a palm leaf manuscript around 200 years old   located in National Library of Sri Lanka, regularly treated by Dummala herbal oil was examined under microscope. They found that the traditional oil was not completely  effective, some fungus still remained. PAC recommended that after treatment with Dummala oil, the manuscripts be kept in a specially designed \u2018fume   cupboard \u2018made out of neem wood, with a cube of Thymol placed at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view, it is only in recent times, that ola manuscripts are treated as archival material, to be preserved somehow.  My guess is that in ancient times, the original manuscript was kept as long as possible but a copy was made when it was clear that the original was going to perish. This was repeated over and over again. That is how the Mahavamsa came  to us. ( continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sirancee Gunawardana Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka.  1977 p    14–, 33-. 132, 134, 248-251, 254, 257<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ifla.org\/news\/pac-sri-lanka-publishes-a-new-report-on-best-practices-for-the-conservation-of-palm-leaf-manuscripts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/library.ifla.org\/2266\/1\/124-cabral-en.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ifla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/files\/assets\/pac\/Documents\/pac_sri_lanka_report_best_practices_for_conservation_of_palm-leaf_manuscripts_.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sirancee Gunawardena, the author of \u2018Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka \u2018(1977) met J. Pannila of Artigala south, Hanwella when she was researching palm leaf manuscripts.   He was then a village elder and was the descendant of   a long line of palm leaf manuscript writers.  Pannila had told Sirancee how the palm leaf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156309,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156308\/revisions\/156309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}