Preserving Ancient Manuscripts in India

India’s Vedic civilization dates five thousand years back. Vedas, the ancient Hindu hymns, represent the life of the earliest inhabitants of the great fertile plains in the western regions of the Indian sub continent bordered by the seven rivers (called ’sapta sindhu’ -  Sindhu, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Bias, Sutlej and Saraswati river) and the gods they worshipped. Vedas were recited every day and through this oral tradition, the sacred hymns were passed from one generation to the next. Apart from Vedas, the Hindu scriptures include a huge collection of epics, Upanishads, Puranas, etc. Then there were ancient medicinal systems like Ayurveda, astrological traditions and other knowledge systems.

Understandably, the anxiety to preserve such a diverse and rich heritage for posterity seized the intelligentsia. Ever since the written word, or script, was developed, the ancients tried to preserve their knowledge on stones, clothes, copper plates, terracotta seals, birch tree barks, rocks and caves.

The epic Mahabharatha is said to have been written by the elephant god Ganesha on palm leaves following its dictation by saint Vyasa. Similarly, Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, is portrayed with stacks of manuscripts in one of her hands. In olden days, kings would exchange messages through palm leaves. That writing on palm leaves was widely prevalent can be gleaned from the fact that when marriages were fixed, the date and venue of the wedding would be engraved on palm leaves and signed by the bride’s and groom’s family heads, a tradition practiced just a century back.

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Goddess Saraswati

The most widely used artifact for preserving the ancient writing was palm leaf. These manuscripts provide a wealth of information on a variety of subjects like astronomy, mathematics, medicine, arts and architecture.

Even with the discovery of paper, the palm leaves haven’t run out of favor as they are found to be three times stronger than the hand made paper. One could write on them in two ways. You could inscribe letters on the leaves using a sharp and pointed stylus or use ink and write.

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