Sep 28,1998
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BHUBANESWAR Brittle Legacy Ancient palm-leaf manuscripts are in danger of crumbling away. By Ruben Banerjee
These are but some examples culled from the 40,000 palm-leaf manuscripts stacked in the museum. Most of them are written in the Oriya script, though the language is Sanskrit. It appears that the text was copied from one leaf to another. The oldest manuscript here belongs to the 14th century but the text can be dated to the 2nd century. Whatever the utility of the wisdom they contain, the manuscripts are a rich source of information about the past. But sadly, the manuscripts have been exposed to the ravages of time. Over the years, many have shrivelled up due to heat and humidity. "You can sense the apathy," says Debasish Behera, a visitor. Though the museum attracts many people, few venture into the room where the manuscripts are kept. Stacks of mouldering manuscripts are hardly an inviting sight. At times, research scholars drop in but the staff's indifference can put off even the most zealous among them. Every time Jyotsna Mohapatra, a PhD scholar, comes to study manuscripts on ancient astrology, members of the staff ask her to come the following day. But getting access to the manuscripts is not her only problem. The cataloguing is incomplete, making her task difficult. "It's a treasure trove gone to seed," she rues. There is growing concern about the manuscripts' safety. "Their loss would be irretrievable," says curator Karunakar Bisoi. Two years ago intach's Indian Conservation Institute (ICI) began efforts to preserve the manuscripts. Conservationists clean the brittle leaves with soft brushes and cotton pads and treat them. Despite the sustained effort, only 6,000 manuscripts have been treated, the rest merely fumigated. And only 800 have been deciphered and microfilmed. As it takes a week to treat one manuscript, the process is a time-consuming one. Earlier preservation methods were crude and a lot of time is now spent in undoing the damage. In some cases, granite powder was applied by untrained hands to spruce up the fading inscriptions. In the process, the leaf surface was scratched. Often, toxic chemicals like xylene were used for cleaning, causing incalculable damage. There is another danger. Stored in a dingy room, the manuscripts are easy prey to termite attacks. The sheer futility of the conservation attempts becomes apparent when restored pieces are routinely returned to the same termite-infested shelves. "Though saved for the time being, the manuscripts remain vulnerable," says Anupam Sah, coordinator of the Bhubaneswar-based Art Conservation Centre. Since only one room has been allotted for the manuscripts, there is no space for more shelves. There is no money or initiative either. The apathy shows in innumerable ways. It manifests itself even in a staffer's casual remark: "What will happen if the manuscripts vanish? It will not make the heavens fall, will it?" But with intach-ICI ready with their countrywide project to preserve palm-leaf manuscripts, there is reason for quiet hope. "It's going to be one huge effort to redeem the manuscripts, and thereby our past," says Om Prakash Agarwal, director of intach-ICI. A little more enthusiasm should work wonders. That the expensive microfilm unit has not been working for years is accepted tamely. Earlier, a copier was employed but this was stopped four years ago. Says Bisoi: "With a little extra effort and more money, history can be a lot richer." Right, and you don't need to pore over decrepit manuscripts to glean this bit of wisdom. |
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Do you want your enemy to grovel before you?
Simple. "Apply a paste of tulsi and neem on your face at a particular time on a full
moon night." This is what an ancient palm-leaf manuscript prescribes. And if you read
through the thousands of such manuscripts at Bhubaneswar's State Museum, you are likely to
come up with more home-grown wisdom. How about this? "When dogs bark, crows begin to
flutter and cats run to hide under your cot, such a night is sure to herald a raging
storm." 
