The Palm-Leaf Manuscript Profiling Initiative (PLMPI)

Palm-leaf manuscripts belong to the world’s most important and numerous handwritten artefacts, millions of which can be found in South and South-east Asia. However, the material characteristics these manuscripts possess have virtually remained unexplored till now. Today, their production has been reduced to a trickle here and there, mostly in rural libraries or for the tourist industry.
The ‘Palm-Leaf Manuscript Profiling Initiative’ is carrying out an innovative and comprehensive study of these artefacts by employing various scientific methods to examine them, including DNA and proteomic analyses, spectrography, microscopy, and others. The results thus generated open up new avenues of research in the fields of philology, codicology, and palaeography, hence advancing our understanding of both material and textual cultures across Asia.
This pioneering project has two main phases, the first of which is already completed. During this phase, which took place in Hamburg, we analysed palm-leaf manuscripts belonging to the CSMC, the Hamburg State and University Library, and a few private collections. In the second phase, which is now underway, the methods that have proven successful are being applied in the field. From summer 2024 until autumn 2025, the CSMC’s brand new Container Lab, a state-of-the-art transportable set of labs, is stationed in Puducherry, India. Together with our local partners, we use material analyses to determine the exact identity and origin of palm-leaf manuscripts that belong to the manuscript collections of the Institut Français de Pondichéry (IFP) and the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO). Both of these collections belong to the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ list since 2005. IFP is CSMC’s partner in this initiative, providing both logistic and academic support before and during the mission.
Spokesperson: Giovanni Ciotti