Traditional conservation methods used to preserve indian palm leaf manuscripts: a literature review

Abstract

Manuscript preservation is an important subject for librarians, archivists, curators, and scholars who care about manuscripts. Palm-leaf manuscripts are more prone to deterioration due to their organic character, making preservation issues severe. Therefore, palm leaf manuscript preservation presents a significant challenge to custodians worldwide. The preservation of manuscripts of the palm leaf has been a major concern since the advent of technology. The objective of this study was to investigate the identification of traditional conservation methods and their use in India. This study used secondary selective Indian sources such as books, journal articles, conference papers, websites, reports of different projects, and case studies to find relevant literature. The literature was analyzed based on two time frames: the variety of palm leaves and the traditional methods used to preserve Indian palm leaf manuscripts. In addition, this study revealed that various traditional plants (herbs) were used to protect the Indian palm leaf manuscripts from insects, pests, and fungi. Dry leaves, dry leaf packs and their powder, and branches and roots of medicinal plants have been used to prevent the destruction of palm leaf manuscripts. Various oils obtained from medicinal plants have been preserved by applying them directly to the surface of manuscripts. As a result, herbal plants have been recognized as traditional preservation methods for the degradation of palm leaf manuscripts. Therefore, to preserve palm-leaf manuscripts for a longer period of time, traditional methods of preservation need to be used.