Experiencing History! World's First Palm-Leaf Manuscript Museum Opened In Kerala- Know More

The recently built Palm leaf Manuscript Museum in Thiruvananthapuram, a treasure trove of both obscure and well-known tales about the former Travancore kingdom, has further enlivened the state's intellectual and cultural landscape. The kingdom was the Asian continent's first to fight any European power on Indian soil.

Stated as the world's first palm leaf manuscript museum, the facility is essentially a repository for curious artefacts relating to Travancore's administrative, sociocultural, and economic aspects from 650 AD until the end of the 19th century, reports The Hindu.

It also houses documents pertaining to the regions of Kochi in the middle of the state and Malabar to the north. The museum, which was inaugurated last week, has the capacity to fill some gaps in the history of Kerala.

Exhibits At The Museum

Documents written on cured and treated palm leaves that were relegated to the corners of the records rooms are among the 187 manuscripts at the museum. These chronicles a wealth of stories that are fully based on primary sources.

Among the several manuscripts displayed at the museum are the accounts of the famous Battle of Colachel, in which the brave Travancore monarch Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1729–58), fought the Dutch East India Company at Colachel, 20 kilometres northwest of Kanyakumari in present-day Tamil Nadu.

The Dutch expansion in India came to a halt in 1741 after Travancore, under Marthanda Varma, defeated the expansionist intentions of any European power. Officials claimed that the museum only exhibits sheaves of palm leaf materials and related items like styluses and carriers of the Cadjan bundles. Copper plates and bamboo splints are also noticeable.

The facility is enticing both general visitors and specialised researchers with its eight galleries representing different segments: 'History of Writing', 'Land and people', 'Administration', 'War and peace', 'Education and Health', 'Economy', 'Art and culture' and 'Mathilakam Records'. Several segments also include films and information-gathering QR code technologies.

Museum To Enliven Cultural Landscape

According to officials, the museum not only enlivens the state's cultural landscape but also acts as a hub for historical and cultural research for both academic and nonacademic academics. The first phase's archival material for the museum was selected after painstakingly sorting through 1.5 crore palm-leaf records from all throughout the state that had been carelessly kept.

The museum opened on the bottom level of the three-century-old building that houses the Central Archives for the Kerala state government. Officials are delighted at housing the iconic museum and consider it only the first step in a much greater historic conservation effort.

According to Dr V Venu, State Additional Chief Secretary, the manuscripts also describe the development of writing in the area (Archaeology, Archives and Museums). He said they provide information to tourists on the development of the Malayalam script from earlier systems like Vattezhuthu and Kolezhuthu.

Venu, also a former Director General of the National Museum in Delhi, said, "Primarily, the galleries give a glimpse of the complex administrative systems of land management, path-breaking proclamations of the Travancore royals and international negotiations as well as agreements, besides documents that became historical milestones."

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