Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c8.s2.1

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: