Deep incisions dance along a single palm leaf in a cursive, curly script that is inked and behind glass — this may look like any other palm leaf manuscript, although it is anything but.
This particular piece chronicles a battle that changed the fate of would-be Dutch colonisers in India. It was the storied Battle of Colachel, where the Travancore king Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company, 20km from Kanyakumari, the land’s end of India, ending Dutch ambitions of expansion in the subcontinent.
This slice of history is being exhibited at the newly opened Palm Leaf Manuscript Museum, housed in a series of tiled roof cottages set around a quadrangle, at the renovated Central Archives Fort, in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
Touted as the world’s first palm leaf manuscript museum, it is a repository of records of various facets — from sociocultural to administrative — of the erstwhile Travancore state, straddling 600 years from 1249 to 1896.
A brief history of palm leaf manuscripts
India’s rich knowledge has been passed down generations, through various oral and written traditions, using materials including stone, copperplates, bark, palm leaves, parchments and paper. Palm leaf manuscripts were the earliest writing materials in India and South-East Asia, dating back to the fifth century BC.
Today, there are millions of palm leaf manuscripts in India in various languages and dialects from Malayalam and Sanskrit to Devanagari and Tamil. Many manuscripts are stored in temples, religious institutions and libraries across the country, and contain information on everything from land records to grammar, poetry and even philosophy. Many have been exposed to the vagaries of nature and deteriorated.
Usually dried and smoke-treated palm leaves of the palmyra palm or talipot palm were used. Two species of special palm leaves were selected, then boiled in hot water, dried in the shade and cut to one metre in length, and smeared with lemon grass oil to prevent them from deterioration and termites.
Palm leaf manuscripts were inscribed with a metal stylus and then inked. Each sheet had a hole through which a string could pass, and then they were tied together like a book, between two wooden planks. A palm leaf book could last for even as long as 600 to 800 years, unless it decayed due to moisture, insects and mould, for example.
Inside the Palm Leaf Manuscript Museum
The museum is curated by Keralam, the Museum of History and Heritage, and housed in a 300-year-old heritage building which once used to be a jail. The manuscripts stored here are in the ancient Malayalam script and some of them are displayed as a bundle, whereas others are just a single leaf. The team in charge of the project had to sort through as many as 15 million palm leaf manuscripts, from record rooms throughout the state, and restore those that were in poor condition.
The museum has eight galleries, separated by theme, and 187 rare and ancient manuscripts are stored here, in special aerated glass cases with controlled humidity and protection from pests, with a plaque explaining its contents.
The exhibitions are divided into themes such as the history of writing, land and people, administration, war and peace, education and health, economy, art and culture, and Mathilakom Records, which includes details of the famous Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and its vast wealth. Each display has a magnifying glass, making it easy for visitors to see the writing and script up close and come with QR codes that can be scanned for more information and videos. Each room also has a kiosk where you can download or print the entire transliteration of a palm-leaf manuscript.
One manuscript is from 1864, when the king wanted to empower the local women and gave them rupees 300, a princely sum in those days, to start an enterprise. Another points to how the kings tried to prevent sati, an old Hindu practice in which a widow sacrificed herself by sitting on top of her deceased husband's funeral pyre. One manuscript restricts travel between the regions that are now Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, during a smallpox outbreak, while another mentions officers fined for late attendance.
“The museum traces the history of the state and also the progress of the local Malayalam script which evolved from earlier versions,” explains archivist KS Nandakumar.
The History of Writing section traces the evolution of the Malayalam script, as well as talks about how history was recorded down the ages. There are styluses that were used to write on palm leaf and bamboo carriers that transported the bundles of palm leaf manuscripts to the palace for the king’s signature.
'Indians have woken up to these treasures'
For many decades, interest in these valuable manuscripts had faded, until on February 14, 2007, the National Mission for Manuscripts launched the National Database of Manuscripts, which contains information on more than a million Indian manuscripts. Now it aims to conserve, as far as possible, each document, whether in a museum, library, temple, madrassa or private collection. They work through 57 manuscript resource centres and trained conservators.
In Bangalore, the NGO Tara Prakashana was started in 2006 by PR Mukund, a renowned professor with a doctorate in electrical engineering, who divides his time between the US and India, and has a palm leaf digitisation project where they have patented a technology called Waferfiche to archive images.
The team also uses cotton acid-free archival paper that can last for 200 to 300 years, to copy and print the old manuscripts. They have also used silicon wafers to save the manuscript in digital form and the trust has so far preserved more than 3,000 palm leaf manuscripts.
“It's impossible to estimate the number of palm leaf manuscripts across South India that are in existence, as many families and scholars have ancient palm leaf manuscripts in their private collections, and many religious institutions and libraries have extensive collections not known publicly," says Mukund.
“The main problem in these manuscripts is the lipi, or script, as many of them are no longer used, or are understood by very few people. It’s a challenge to find a scholar who can transcribe them into a script that can be understood now.
“For hundreds of years, we have ignored this rich legacy, but suddenly Indians have woken up to these treasures and decided to preserve them and digitalise them for posterity. In these manuscripts, one can find an amazing amount of practical knowledge with great depth, that is applicable to all aspects of life from medicine to astrology. Rediscovering all this ancient knowledge and applying it to our lives today is going to be exciting."
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
The biog
Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran
Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000
Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic
Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
more from Janine di Giovanni
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
