Palm Leaf Manuscripts Research Articles

Heritage and Language Values Hidden in Khmer Palm Leaf Manuscripts in An Giang Province, Vietnam

The manuscripts on Khmer palm leaves in An Giang province are a distinctive element of the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Khmer community in southern Vietnam. These manuscripts, made from processed palm leaves, serve as a repository of Buddhist scriptures, sacred texts, and traditional knowledge, reflecting the spiritual and cultural values of the Khmer people within the Theravada Buddhist tradition. This study examines the origins, the techniques of manuscript creation, and their cultural significance, highlighting their role in preserving the Khmer language and traditional teachings. The study also addresses the challenges posed by environmental degradation and the decline of traditional craftsmanship, which threaten the preservation of these manuscripts. The research employs methods such as ethnographic observation, document analysis, and interviews to clarify how data is collected and how this information will be used in the study. Along with providing criteria for selecting research subjects and locations, including pagodas in Tri Tôn and Tịnh Biên districts, the study is more systematic and verifiable, enhancing the scientific rigor and reliability of the results. The study proposes solutions such as raising community awareness, applying digital preservation methods, and encouraging community participation in preservation efforts. Through this, the research emphasizes the importance of Khmer palm leaf manuscripts as a cultural treasure and their relevance in preserving Khmer heritage and identity in the modern era.

Phytolith assemblages from palm leaves and palm-leaf manuscripts: what is the difference and what it could mean?

We studied freshly collected, dried and herbarized leaf fragments of two palms, namely Borassus flabellifer L. and Corypha umbraculifera L., most commonly used for palm-leaf manuscript (PLM) production in South (S) and Southeast Asia (SE) in order to reveal differences in their phytolith assemblages. For each of the two palms, 25 leaf samples were taken from the two Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Dried leaf material was obtained from the fresh one by drying the leaves in air. Herbarium samples were obtained from two independent herbaria, specimen origin comprises S and SE Asia with the main focus on South India and Sri Lanka. Additionally, 25 manuscripts made of Borassus flabellifer leaves and 25 manuscripts made of Corypha umbraculifera leaves were investigated for phytoliths. All manuscripts are preliminary dated back to between the 16th and the beginning of the 20th century CE; most of them assumedly were produced in S India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Sri Lanka, Burma or Indonesia. Phytolith assemblages significantly differed between fresh, dry and herbarized palm leaves in comparison to PLM material, both qualitatively and quantitatively (mean r2 = - 0.61 ± 9.3 for Borassus samples and r2 = - 0.75 ± 5.3 for Corypha samples, at p < 0.001). Fifty-three phytolith types described for PLM material were not observed in any of the fresh, dry or herbarized palm-leaf samples. Geographical analysis of PLM-specific phytoliths suggests that the combination of those phytoliths could be region-related. In this paper, we prove that the methods of palaeoecological reconstructions based on detailed microscopy of the PLMs surface and phytolith analysis applied in combination with methods of mathematical and computer data analysis can contribute to answer the questions posed by material codicology by revealing lost manuscript production recipes and by studying manuscript provenance in terms of the geographical origin of the artefacts. Our approach can potentially open a new perspective for palaeoecological studies expanding their traditional scope and making them applicable to a new research field.

Exploring the Effects of Ionic Liquid on the Toughness of Palm Leaf Manuscripts.

Palm leaf manuscripts, crafted from specially treated palm leaves, are invaluable historical documents. However, they degrade and tend to become brittle over time. To date, plant essential oils and glycerin are the used materials to improve the flexibility of palm leaf manuscripts, but the effective duration of these materials is short due to their volatility. This work introduces ionic liquids, a nonvolatile and stable material, to achieve durable toughening of the palm leaf manuscripts. We select 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF4]), one of the most used ionic liquids, as the subject of research. We find that [BMIm][BF4] does not alter the palm leaf manuscripts' appearance and significantly improves their tensile strength and fracture toughness by 39.9 and 101.0%, respectively, while reducing the bending modulus by 25.7% and increasing the bending fracture deflection by 2.6 times. Notably, [BMIm][BF4]'s toughening effect for palm leaf manuscripts is sustainable for over 2 months, outperforming traditional methods that last only about 1 week. Even under harsh conditions, such as low humidity, high temperatures, alkalinity, and UV exposure, [BMIm][BF4] still maintains its effectiveness. Through the analysis of its composition, structure, and theoretical simulation, we reveal that [BMIm][BF4] penetrates the manuscripts, filling the pores between the inner structure of them and adsorbing strongly with cellulose. This enhances load transfer and reduces the stress concentration, resulting in increased toughness. This research provides innovative materials for palm leaf manuscript conservation and deepens our understanding of their mechanical properties.

Study on the Aging Effects of Relative Humidity on the Primary Chemical Components of Palm Leaf Manuscripts.

Palm Leaf Manuscripts represent a significant component of the world's cultural heritage. Investigating their primary chemical components and understanding the transformations these materials undergo under environmental influences are crucial for elucidating their material characteristics and aging mechanisms and developing effective strategies for preventive conservation. This study utilized infrared absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis to examine changes in the primary chemical components of Palm Leaf Manuscripts under varying relative humidity conditions over extended periods. The findings reveal that dry environments lead to surface cracking, while humid environments promote mold growth, both of which contribute to the degradation of the primary chemical components. These degradative processes reduce cellulose crystallinity and thermal stability. The deterioration is particularly severe under high humidity, with hemicellulose degrading faster and more extensively than cellulose under the same conditions. After 200 days of aging at 10% RH and 90% RH, cellulose degradation reached 19.82% and 54.40%, respectively, while hemicellulose degradation was 34.78% and 64.28%. Correspondingly, the relative crystallinity of cellulose decreased by 8.01% and 13.11%. In contrast, samples maintained at 50% RH exhibited minimal deterioration, with cellulose and hemicellulose degrading by only 4.08% and 13.55%, respectively, and a 6.61% reduction in cellulose crystallinity. These results suggest that a relative humidity of 50% is optimal for the preservation of Palm Leaf Manuscripts. This study offers significant insights into the ageing mechanisms and preventive conservation of Palm Leaf Manuscripts, as well as other cellulose-based organic heritage materials.

Traditional healing and usada manuscript in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

This article explores ethnomedicine or traditional medication written in palm-leaf manuscripts in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. Most of the manuscripts in Lombok are written on palm leaf or lontar. One genre of palm-leaf manuscripts is USADA or traditional medication. These USADA manuscripts, serving as guides for traditional healers (dukun and balian), contain valuable information on diseases, treatments, herbal remedies, and incantations. The study reveals that ethnomedicine remains a relevant and respected practice in Lombok, often considered on par with modern medicine. Many residents rely on traditional healers for healthcare, particularly for minor illnesses. The research also highlights the living nature of the manuscript tradition, with continued recitation, copying, and teaching of these texts to younger generations. However, challenges persist in preserving these manuscripts and promoting wider appreciation for this unique cultural heritage.

Influence of Relative Humidity on the Mechanical Properties of Palm Leaf Manuscripts: Short-Term Effects and Long-Term Aging.

Palm leaf manuscripts are a valuable part of world cultural heritage. Studying the mechanical properties of palm leaf manuscripts and their changes due to environmental influences is of great significance for understanding the material characteristics, aging mechanisms, and preventive conservation of these manuscripts. This study used dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) and a thermomechanical analyzer (TMA) to investigate the changes to the mechanical properties of palm leaf manuscripts in response to different relative humidity conditions and different time periods. The short-term study results show that exposure to varying relative humidities leads to changes in the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of palm leaf manuscripts, causing the bending strength of the samples to decrease significantly with increasing humidity. The bending modulus initially increases and then decreases as the humidity increases. Moreover, the greater the desorption hysteresis of the samples, the more pronounced the changes to the mechanical properties. Therefore, a stable environment in terms of humidity can prevent changes in the mechanical properties of palm leaf manuscripts, thereby preventing the onset of degradation. The results of the long-term aging studies indicate that prolonged exposure to either very dry or very humid conditions greatly affects the mechanical properties of palm leaf manuscripts, which is detrimental to their preservation. The samples kept at 50% RH did not exhibit significant signs of deterioration, with no notable changes in their mechanical properties or chemical structure. This suggests that 50% RH is a relatively optimal humidity condition for the preservation of palm leaf manuscripts.

Exploration on the application of microbial induced calcium precipitation technology in the protection of palm leaf manuscripts in the Dai area of China

Abstract. This paper explores the application of biotechnology, specifically the Microbial Induced Calcium Precipitation (MICP) technology, in the protection of Palm Leaf Manuscripts in the Dai area of China. Through the perspective of a Dai student, it reveals the current situation and problems in the protection of Palm Leaf Manuscripts. By comprehensively analyzing the application cases of MICP technology at home and abroad and combining the characteristics of the palm leaf material used in Palm Leaf Manuscripts, this paper demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of MICP technology and supplements the general data in the experimental procedures, providing a scientific and feasible solution for the protection of Palm Leaf Manuscripts.

Study on the Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Hygroscopic Properties of Palm Leaf Manuscripts

Study on the Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Hygroscopic Properties of Palm Leaf Manuscripts

An intelligent character segmentation system coupled with deep learning based recognition for the digitization of ancient Tamil palm leaf manuscripts

Palm-leaf manuscripts, rich with ancient knowledge in areas such as history, art, and medicine, are vital cultural treasures, making their digitization essential for preserving this heritage. Digitization of these organic and fragile manuscripts is required to safeguard the essential ancient data. This requires optimal character segmentation and recognition algorithms. A limited number of studies have been carried out in Tamil character recognition in literature. Handling row-overlapped characters, noise introduced due to lightning issues, and dirt, as well as the removal of punch holes, auto-cropping the content, filtering out noisy or improper segmentation, etc. are the essential concerns carried out in our proposed work. This work is executed as a four-step process (1) Palm Leaf Manuscript Acquisition (2) Pre-Processing (3) Segmentation of Tamil Characters and (4) Tamil Character Recognition. During acquisition, the scanners are used for recording palm leaf manuscripts from the Tamil Nadu-oriented manuscript library. In the Pre-processing step, the Fast Non-Local Means (Fast-NLM) method, paired with median filtering is used for Denoising the scanner output image. Later, the pixels that make the characters and borders (i.e., the foreground) are identified using Sauvola thresholding. The proposed methodology introduces efficient techniques to remove Punch hole impressions from the pre-processed image, and to crop the written content from the edges. After pre-processing, the Segmentation of Tamil Characters is performed as a three-step process (a) Manuscript (b) Line, and (c) character segmentation, which addresses conjoined lines, partially/completely empty segmentations that are not previously addressed by existing techniques. This work introduces an Augmented HPP line-splitting algorithm that accurately segments written lines, handling wrong segmentation cases that were previously not considered by existing techniques. The system achieves an average segmentation accuracy of 98.25%, which far outperforms existing techniques. It also proposes a novel Punch hole removal algorithm that can locate and remove the punch-hole impressions in the manuscript image. This algorithm, along with the automated content cropping technique, increases recognition accuracy and eliminates any manual labor needed. These features make the proposed methodology highly suitable for real-time archaeological and historical researches that include manuscripts. All 247 letters and 12 numeric digits are analyzed and separated into 125 distinct writable characters. In our work, characters are segmented and used for recognition of all 247 letters and 12 digits in Tamil using a multi-class CNN with 125 classes, which drastically reduces the complexity of the neural network compared to having 257 output nodes. It offered a notable performance of 96.04% accuracy. As compared with existing Tamil and other character recognitions, this work is effective in essence of considering real-time images and the increased number of characters used.

Clay sealings from Perlis, Malaysia, and the wider world of the Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣa-Dhāraṇī

AbstractMultiple copies of a particular clay sealing bearing the Buddhist Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣa-dhāraṇī (mantra) inscription were discovered in Gua Berhala—a cave in Perlis, Malaysia. These sealings can be roughly assigned to the tenth century and they appear to have been stamped with an identical seal. However, critical reading of the textual rendition of the dhāraṇī had not yet been done despite several attempts to study it. Therefore, based on several fragments of these sealings, this article provides a detailed reading and translation of the dhāraṇī and considers the cultural significance of their production. The article also examines the textual structure of this Perlis dhāraṇī and compares it with similar dhāraṇīs preserved in a palm-leaf manuscript and other materials found across Asia. This includes a survey on the wider transmission of the dhāraṇī in the continent. In this comparative exercise, the physical characteristics of the Perlis sealing appear to be unique and express a distinct artistic style, while its textual tradition is slightly compressed compared with others, with no identical equivalent found elsewhere. This observation suggests that Perlis, with its proximity to the Bujang Valley, participated in the wider network of dhāraṇī culture rooted in Eastern India and was just not a passive recipient of this practice.

Material Characterisation of 19–20th Century Manuscripts from Northern Thailand

Abstract Material analysis was carried out on four manuscripts from Northern Thailand, which included two palm-leaf manuscripts and two paper manuscripts. The two palm-leaf manuscripts MS 6 and MS 7 were found to have been written in the traditional method, wherein text was incised on the surface of the leaves, and then soot applied to the surfaces, confirmed by the identification of carbon ink. MS 7 additionally showed the presence of trace levels of iron in the ink, either from soot paste or from the stylus used for inscribing. The paper manuscript MS 3 was written in iron-gall ink, with sections written using a methyl-violet based ink while MS 4 was written in carbon ink. The paper used in the case of MS 3 was found to be machine made, while khoi fibres (Streblus asper) were used for making the paper used for MS 4. A combination of traditional and modern pigments, like molybdenum orange, was used for decorating the edges and cover. The results improved our understanding of these manuscripts in particular, and also provided us with insights about the rapid adoption of modern materials and their incorporation into the production of written artefacts from Northern Thailand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The effect of traditional processing craft on the hygroscopicity of palm leaf manuscripts

Palm leaf manuscripts, which are crucial carriers of historical, religious, scientific, and artistic information in East and Southeast Asia, specifically encapsulate significant aspects of Buddhist culture and thus require comprehensive research and preservation efforts. The base material of palm leaf manuscripts is processed palm leaves, which are hygroscopic and profoundly affected by environmental humidity. Currently, there is a research gap regarding the impact of traditional processing crafts and natural aging on the hygroscopicity of palm leaf manuscripts. Utilizing dynamic water vapor sorption (DVS), the hygroscopic properties of palm leaves from various years were assessed before and after traditional processing in Yunnan Province, China. The results show that traditional processing slightly increases the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) in environments with 0 to 60% relative humidity (RH), but significantly lowers EMC in high humidity environments, with reductions up to 19.01%. Additionally, hysteresis doubled post-processing, indicating enhanced stability under fluctuating humidity conditions. Sorption models suggest that traditional processing increases the number of adsorption sites while reducing physical adsorption or capillary condensation. FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) analysis indicates that the relative contents of cellulose and hemicellulose were reduced by 39.90% and 3.97%, respectively. Degradation occurring in both the crystalline and amorphous regions of cellulose. After natural aging, the hygroscopicity of processed palm leaves improved across the entire humidity range of 0 to 95%, and there was a slight increase in hysteresis. This is due to the increase in both adsorption sites and physical adsorption capabilities. FT-IR results also indicate that the relative contents of cellulose and hemicellulose were decreased by 57.52% and 19.83% after nature aging, respectively. These findings confirm that traditional processing improves the writability and humidity resilience of the leaves, while natural aging enhances their overall hygroscopic properties. This research contributes to our understanding of how humidity damages palm leaf manuscripts. aids in determining optimal RH ranges for storage, and assesses the effectiveness of consolidation treatments in their long–term preservation.

PLM-Res-U-Net: A light weight binarization model for enhancement of multi-textured palm leaf manuscript images

This paper proposes a deep semantic binarization model, PLM-Res-U-Net, for enhancing palm-leaf manuscripts. PLM-Res-U-Net is a lightweight model comprising encoding and decoding blocks with skip connections. The model enhances the palm leaf manuscript by efficiently retaining the text strokes by removing the degradations such as uneven illumination, aging marks, brittleness, and background discolorations. Two datasets of palm leaf manuscript collections with multiple degradation patterns and diverse textured backgrounds are used for experimentation. PLM-Res-U-Net is trained from scratch with 50 epochs with a learning rate of1e−8 with three sampling strategies. The performance of state-of-the-art deep learning models ResUnet, Pspnet, U-Net++, and Segnet are also evaluated along with two diverse benchmark datasets. Analysis shows that results obtained by the proposed PLM-Res-U-Net prove generalizability and computational efficacy with a dice score of 0.986. Additionally, PLM-Res-U-Net successfully preserves the edge strokes of the text compared with state-of-the-art models.

Analysis of Aspergillus niger isolated from ancient palm leaf manuscripts and its deterioration mechanisms

Palm leaf manuscripts (PLMs), venerable historical artefacts containing Buddhist scriptures, history, mathematics and literature, which are carried by palm leaves (Corypha umbraculifera) and are highly susceptible to microbial degradation during prolonged storage. This degradation results in significant alterations to both the appearance and material properties of PLMs, but the precise mechanism underlying this deterioration remains a mystery. To this end, the present study focused on ancient PLMs from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. The objective of present study was to isolate, culture and identify the microorganisms typically found in these manuscripts and to use them to biodegrade the carriers of PLMs. Detailed observations of the biodegradation behavior of these microorganisms on the carriers of PLMs were carried out, together with characterizations of the hierarchical structure and mechanical properties of the leaf fiber cell walls. This comprehensive analysis provided insights into the deterioration mechanisms of the carriers of PLMs. The study revealed the presence of the common fungus Aspergillus niger on ancient PLMs. Aspergillus niger can secrete cellulase, lipase, and acidic substances after colonizing on the carriers of PLMs. These substances sequentially damage the carrier's epidermal cells, mesophyll cells, and leaf fibers, leading to the separation of different tissue structures. At the molecular level, the lipids on the surface of the leaves were degraded initially, and sequential depolymerization of hemicellulose, amorphous cellulose, and crystalline cellulose occurred. Additionally, this study firstly applied nanoindentation technology in the research of PLMs. The mechanical properties of the cell walls underwent notable alterations due to the modifications in chemical and crystalline structure of the carriers of PLMs upon the biodegradation of Aspergillus niger. Specifically, the hardness and elastic modulus of leaf fiber cell walls showed an initial increasing and then decreasing trend, consistent with the trend of cellulose crystallinity, which also provided a new reference for assessing the degree of deterioration of PLMs.

Generate, transform, and clean: the role of GANs and transformers in palm leaf manuscript generation and enhancement

Generate, transform, and clean: the role of GANs and transformers in palm leaf manuscript generation and enhancement

V. M. Kuṭṭikṛṣṇa Mēnōn: An unmatched scholar of traditional Ayurveda system of medicine

Abstract V. M. Kuṭṭikṛṣṇa Mēnōn was an eminent Ayurveda physician, an astute researcher, and an insightful and eloquent writer. He is the author of three great books on Ayurveda and myriad publications on Ayurveda and folklore. The translation of Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayam (Sūtrasthāna), the quintessence and their treatment, and the publication of “Kriyākaumudi” and “Cikitsākautukam,” can all be seen as efforts to revive Kerala’s ancient traditions. As his writings were available only in the native Malayalam language, he remained unknown to other parts of the country. He perused innumerable palm leaf manuscripts from private collections and manuscript repositories at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, the contents of which otherwise would have never appeared in publications. He has not received much recognition and rewards that he deserved, but his insatiable thirst for knowledge has urged him to dig deep into the treasures of Ayurveda.

The Chinese Pothi: A Missing Link in the History of the Chinese Book

This paper examines Chinese pothi manuscripts from Dunhuang, arguing that this book form played an important role in the history of the Chinese book. Ultimately emulating Indian palm leaf manuscripts, the few dozen examples of Chinese pothi come from Dunhuang, where they appeared during the Tibetan control of the region. Rather than being a local phenomenon, the pothi form was instrumental in the development of more mainstream book forms, most notably the concertina.

A Study on Punya Lekhana Tradition in Sri Lanka: with reference to Kandyan Era

From the ruler to the ordinary citizens, the documents that record the meritorious deeds can be called 'Punya Lekhana'. The history of writing these documents can be traced back to time immemorial. The primary influence of these writings was the belief in meritorious acts of man, and the ideas and ideologies on good deeds and as shaped up by tradition. The aim of this research was to study the charity writing tradition in Sri Lanka and the research question was whether this tradition continued during the Kandyan Period. Historical methodology was applied for this research. It seems that the idea of keeping a record of the merits done by oneself started at the beginning of the Kandyan era, and 'Punya Lekhana' was compiled to record the merits done by the king and the ordinary people. It was a custom to prepare and keep the most common pious writings written in a temple using palm leaf medium as an appendix to a palm leaf manuscript or as a palm leaf manuscript. Since there are charitable documents of various natures, classification is possible according to their nature. These are Punyanumodhana Patra, Pundyanumodhana Sandesa, Punya Pustaka and Punya Ayadeum Patra. It is evident that these charity writings can be useful to genealogists to obtain information on genealogy. However it can be said that these documents were not been used as primary sources in historical research. This study underlines the fact that these are a unique source of literature in studying the religious, political and socio-economic history of the kandian Period.

Revealing the Mechanism of Ink Flaking from Surfaces of Palm Leaves (Corypha umbraculifera).

Palm leaves are the primary literary support in South and Southeast Asia before the widespread use of paper. However, palm leaf manuscripts face the threat of information loss due to the persistent issue of ink flaking during long-term preservation. Herein, we focus on studying the botanical structure, surface properties, and surface composition of palm leaves to gain an insightful understanding of the mechanism of ink flaking. According to the surface energy analysis, the surface of palm leaves is dominated by the dispersive component due to the presence of hydrophobic substances, resulting in the weak interaction between the handwriting and palm leaves. Moreover, the accumulation of silicon on palm leaves creates a "cuticle-silicon double layer", leading to a dense structure that hinders deep ink absorption. These two main reasons are considered to cause the ink flaking easily, which is further proven by the ink flaking test with the simulated palm leaf manuscripts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-depth technical study on the adhesion performance of handwriting on plant leaves. This work also provides a theoretical basis for the study of the deterioration, adhesive repair, enhancement of flexibility, handwriting reinforcement, and beyond, which contributes to the conservation of precious palm leaf manuscripts.

A modified deep semantic binarization network for degradation removal in palm leaf manuscripts

A modified deep semantic binarization network for degradation removal in palm leaf manuscripts