Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c8.s2: II. Books
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c8.s2
- Language
- English
II. Books
c8.s2.1
Sinhalese books are written on ‘olas,’ or strips of the leaf of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera. The leaves are prepared as follows: a leaf bud of the palm is cut down just before it opens; the leaf segments are separated and the midrib removed, dividing each segment into two strips. These are loosely rolled and placed in a copper cauldron with cold water and then boiled for an hour, and afterwards dried in the sun for three days. The leaves are then again rolled, this time not singly, but in rolls a foot or so in diameter. The rolls are exposed to the dew for three successive nights, after which they become pliable. In this state they can be preserved a long time, especially if kept in a smoky place, such as the loft in a kitchen. When required for use, the rolls are taken one by one and smoothed by rubbing on a polished areca stump; the trunk is tied across two posts and the ola laid across it with a weight attached to the stalk end; the ola is then pulled up and down across the trunk until it is smooth on both sides. The leaves are next cut up into various standard sizes, the largest three spans in length, the next and most usual length for valuable books being two spans and four fingers; smaller sizes vary from eighteen inches downwards. Care is taken to make the strips of even breadth. All the leaves are then punched with the two string holes in accordance with the following rule:
c8.s2.2
*Ayamena catur bhagam, Tribhagam punar eva ca,* *Ubhayoh sutra-madhyena, Tatha kuryat chidra-lakshanam.*
c8.s2.3
“Fold the leaf in three and again in four and perforate between the pairs of lines formed by the folding.” The leaves are next strung on smooth rounded sticks passed through the string holes, in thick parcels between wooden covers; the four sides of the leaves are singed with a hot iron; the packet, now called *pot-gediya*, is so stored until required for use. Each leaf is a *pat-iruva*; a ‘gathering’ of eight or sixteen leaves, lettered alphabetically, is a *pat-kattuva* [Clough].
c8.s2.4
The leaves are removed from the packet one by one and written on with a sharp style (*panhinda*): after the writing and revision an ink composed of dummala oil and lamp black is lightly rubbed on (*kalu-madinava*) with a rag and wiped with clean chaff, after which the writing stands out clearly.
c8.s2.5
The completed book consists of the written leaves, enclosed between two wooden covers (*pot-kambi*) of the same size and shape which are painted, lacquered, carved or quite plain. Book covers are also made of ivory, and silver. A string (*pot-lanuva*), composed sometimes of cotton, sometimes of *niyanda* fibre, and often with different colored strands, passes through one set of holes and through holes in the covers, and is wound round the book when not in use. One end of the string is attached to a flat button (*pot-sakiya*), ivory, horn or metal, which prevents the string from slipping through the cover. The correct rule for thus tying up the book is given in the verse:
c8.s2.6
*Prathame dasa-sutrani, Pañca-sutrani maddhyame* *Tripanam tripanam bandham, Mata mata vidhiyate.*
c8.s2.7
“Ten strings at the top, five strings in the middle, three and three, and the cross strings in pairs is the rule.” The Sanskrit is apparently corrupt.
c8.s2.8
The actual leaves of the book are rarely ornamented. The full stops, however, are sometimes rubricated, and the small space around the string-hole, which is liable to become frayed and should not be written upon, has also occasionally some decoration in red. Books of magic, such as *Bali* songs, charms and spells, are illustrated wlth pictures of demons, diagrams, etc., in plain black; but only such as can be scratched with the style upon the leaf. Horoscopes are written on full-length strips of leaf and are elaborately ornamented with geometrical decoration similarly incised. Letters were sent on strips of ola, neatly folded, and bound with narrow strips of ola, passing once or several times round, in accordance with etiquette, as given in a verse current in the pansalas:
c8.s2.9
*Ekam satru dvayam mitram, Trini bandhum catur prabhum* *Pañca matapitabhratrinam, Shad gurum sapta bhupatim.*
c8.s2.10
“One for an enemy, two for a friend, three for a relative, four for superiors, five for father, mother, or brother, six for the guru, seven for the king.” Knox says that the King “when he sends any Warrants or Orders to his Officers, hath his Writings wrapped up in a way proper to himself, and none else do or may fold up their leaves in that manner but he.” In some cases the actual letter was enclosed in an envelope, bearing, in addition to the address, some amount of ornament. One such in the British Museum “is decorated with scroll work . . . embroidered in gold thread with small bosses of red and blue silk.”*
c8.s2.11
* Wickremasinghe, ‘Sinhalese Manuscripts in the British Museum,’ 1900, p. 166.
c8.s2.12
Fig. 4. Tiringi tale: from a tracing of an old example belonging to the Nilavala Muhandirams of Maṅgalagama (pp. 57, 58); the design is somewhat inferior compared with that of Fig. 8. For explanation see pp. 65, 66. Half size of original drawing.