Conservators in India Treat Historic Palm-Leaf Manuscripts

KAKINADA, INDIA—The Hindu reports that conservators from India’s State Department of Archaeology and Museums are treating some 1,600 palm-leaf manuscripts held at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Archaeology Museum and Research Institute in southeastern India to protect them from insects. Each of the manuscripts, which date to the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, is about 500 pages long. The texts include the fields of Ayurveda, mathematics, astrology, music, and literature such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Once the manuscripts have been chemically treated they will be covered in cotton fabric for additional protection in storage. To read about efforts to preserve the medieval city of Hampi, go to "Letter from India: Living Heritage at Risk."