THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Encased in glass, the dry, slender palm leaf is as long as your arm. The inscription on it, in four lines, is in Tamil. “That’s the ‘Trippadidanam,’ by which Marthanda Varma surrendered his kingdom to Lord Padmanabha. It dates back to 1750,” the archives officer tells you.
The glass case next to it contains another gem; a copy of the ‘Ramayanam Kilippatu’ in tightly-bound palm-leaf manuscripts.
The exhibition organised by the State Archives Department at the Central Archives, Fort, is attracting history buffs and the general public alike with its fascinating collection of centuries-old ‘Cheppedu,’ ‘Churuna,’ and rare books dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition also has an interesting array of gazettes published by the Travancore, Tiru-Kochi, Kochi, Kerala and India governments and the Fort St George Gazette.
Of course, the copper plates and palm-leaf manuscripts are obviously the oldest specimens in the exhibition, but the books also offer interesting reading.‘’Far back in time, when Europe lay shrivelled and cold under the glaciers of the Age of Ice, Arabia was a land of forests and pastures, and watered by three great rivers.’’ Thus opens the introduction to ‘Lord of Arabia: Ibn Saud, an Intimate Study of a King,’ a book by H C Armstrong, one of the proud possessions in the department’s collection of rare tomes. Another interesting book, its pages faded by time to a pale brown, is ‘The Story of the Buddha,’ by Edith Holland. It was published in London by George G Harrap and Company Ltd.
Other interesting exhibits include Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Goan Struggle for Freedom’ published by the Navjeevan Publishing House; a tattered copy in Malayalam of ‘Mahatma Gandhiyum Jaathi Vythyasavum;’ a January, 1919, edition of ‘Mitavadi’ which opens with a quotation from Emerson and a copy of ‘Bhashavilasini,’ the ‘fourth reader’ for school students from 1941. A real gem in the exhibition is ‘The Essentials of Malayalam Grammar Deduced from the Sentence’ by L Garthwaite, Fellow of the University of Madras and Inspector of Schools, Madras Presidency. This slim volume was published in 1888. There is also a translation of the ‘Abhijnana Sakuntalam’ from 1955.
Many of the documents and ‘Mulakkarams’ deal with land records, such as the ‘Jenmikkaram’ settlement register for Eravipuram ‘Pakuthy,’ Quilon taluk which is on display at the exhibition.‘’We acquired many of these exhibits from the Tamil Nadu Archives. The digitisation of these manuscripts is almost over. We will soon undertake their conservation,’’ State Archives director P Biju said.‘’The chief aim of the exhibition is to make the public understand the importance of protecting archival material,’’ he said.
The exhibition will be on up to December 1.