A journey to search my soul

This is a blog of my personal collections. The purpose of this blog is to educate myself and public in regards to antiquities especially related to religion and calligraphy. I welcome everyone to input their feedback in this blog which they think would be helpful. I do not watermark the photos in this blog so everyone is free to use them as long as they are not used for illegal and unethical reasons. I appreciate if you could notify me if you plan to use any of the photos here. Enjoy browsing!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Ancient Manuscript Review 72 : Antique Bali Lontar Manuscript ( 19th century)




This is a very interesting type of manuscript. The origin of this manuscript is Bali island, Indonesia. The script is called abugida, a derivation of old kawi script was written on  "lontar" leaf.
Lontar leaf derives from the palmyra species of palm, Borassus flabellifer, which is common in Indonesia. In Balinese, the palmyra palm is named "tal" ( deriving from "tala", the sanskrit name for the talipot palm), and this is reflected in the term "lontar", which is an inversion of the word "rontal" meaning "leaf" (ron) of the "tal tree" (tal).
Both sides of lontar leaf provide a writing surface. An iron stylus called a pangutik is used to inscribe the writings on the leaf surface.
I dont have any information about the content of this lontar manuscript but I believe its about the beliefs and ritual laws of Balinese.
Each leaf is 16" in length and 1" in width. There are total of 37 leaves and sandwiched by  2 flat boards called " cakepan". These cakepans are made of bamboo.
( Reference : Illuminations The Writing Traditions of Indonesia)

Manuscript Specs

Item : Antique Bali Lontar Manuscript
Content : Balinese Ritual
Dim : 16" x  1" x 1.5"
Date : 18-19th century
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : Bali island
Calligraphy : Abugida
Design : Written in Abugida scripts in  black in Balinese language
Purchased Price :US

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