A 19th century manuscript made of rectangular strips of palm ("thali") leaf engraved with a stylus in the archaic Malayazhma script; bound between dark brown jackwood ("plav", Artocarpus integrifolia) covers that have been pierced and secured with a cord. Native name and meaning: "thali ollai grantham" (palmetto leaf treatise). A book of Malayazhma grammar; this script has been out of use for some time and manuscripts of this type have not been produced since circa 1940. Width 8 cm, length 29.7 cm.
Donor:
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Ready, Jr. Fund and Niloufer Hirschmann Ichaporia
Collection place:
Kerala State, India
Collector:
Niloufer Hirschmann Ichaporia
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Books
Function:
7.1 Writing and Records (including religious texts)