Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s1.25

c8.s1.25

The meanness which is so characteristic of S. India, displays itself conspicuously in the mss. written there. It is very seldom that the least attempt is made (except in Malabar) to trim the leaves, and to provide proper covers for them. In Ceylon, Burmah and Indo-China, on the other hand, the palm-leaf mss. are always beautifully written, and are often real works of art. In S. India, mss. are hung up in the kitchen chimney; in the Ceylon monasteries I observed that each one of importance is preserved carefully in a box made for the purpose and to fit the ms.