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Pala Palm-Leaf Manuscripts
Sanskrit and Pali scriptures written on palm leaf (talapatra), pierced and bound, produced at Buddhist centers in Bengal and Bihar during the Pala dy…
Timeline
- 800–950Nalanda · BiharThe Pala royal family sponsored universities such as Nalanda and Vikramashila to establish scripture-copying rooms, writing sutras, vinaya, and treatises on processed palm-leaf strips, piercing and binding them with thread, with some manuscripts decorated with miniature illustrations of the Buddha's life and mandalas.
- 1051–1060Vikramashila · BiharIn the 1050s, under Nayapala (d. 1055) and Vighrahapala III, the vihara scriptoria continued copying Mahayana texts such as the Prajnaparamita and treatises on logic, providing manuscripts for studying monks and as exemplars carried by pilgrims to East Asia and Tibet.
- 1000–1200Bengal · BengalPalm-leaf manuscripts traveled to Tibet, Nepal, and East Asia via pilgrim monks and trade routes, becoming one of the important source texts for the Tibetan Buddhist canon and the circulation of Buddhist scriptures in East Asia; some manuscripts are now held in museums in various countries.
Sources
- Buddhist Manuscript Cultures: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art — Stephen C. Berkwitz et al. (2009)
- The Art of Eastern India, 300–800 — Frederick M. Asher (1980)