Plan to Digitise Entire Manuscript Collection and Develop Sevadhi

SOME of the leaves are marked with an emblem containing two objects; a conch sign (like the one that adorns images of Ganesha) and four characters: 'bha', 'ga', 'va', and 'ti' (goddess).

- Abhilash Chandran @Kottayam

Two centuries ago, Kumaranalloor Devaswom utilized this punched symbol as an emblem on palm leaves.

In order to conserve the artifacts, authorities reached out to noted epigraphist S Rajendu and sorted the manuscripts, carefully bundling them into groups of 100 leaves each. "The leaves were found in deteriorating condition, with some irreparably damaged. We have been able to recover over 37,000 leaves. We are now making an effort to make them readable by cleaning them with a mixture of citronella oil and collyrium," Rajendu said.