Science and Art of Calligraphy and Painting

Author(s): S Andhare
Publisher: Indian National Science Academy

Page 47

Wooden Panels: E h , if
Plain or painted wooden boards were included among the writing implements of the scribes. In the olden days, merchants scribbled their daily transactions on wooden boards which were later transferred on to account books.
Patli, Kambika, book-cover : 4 1
We have seen earlier that early Jain literature was written on palm leaves, as paper was not available then for writing. In order to keep these palm leaf folios togather in a particular sequence, like a book, a couple of long and narrow panels of wood were used on the top and bottom, of the pile of leaves, as book covers. They are known as patlis or kambikas. These are usually painted or lacquered in bright colours and decorated with jain symbols like the ashtamangalas, eight auspicious symbols, the 14 sacred dreams as also the incidents from the lives of Jain Tirthankaras in a narrative style. Some of these patlis go back to the 12th century A.D. (Fig. 1) The folios were pierced at two or three places (Fig. 2) in the center through which a cord passed through the pile of folios to hold them in between the two covers, which also has similar holes. The cord is tightly wound round the boards to keep the folios in position and protect them from climatic changes and human handling. (Fig. 3)
Fig 3
Typical method of tying the Ms