East Bali Tour

Enjoy the best places to see in Denpasar with a plan including Bali Driver Gede

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

PRIMEVAL PAPERBACKS

Primeval Paperbacks



If the world’ s history of paper advance since the classical antiquity of the papyrus used by the Egyptians and Greeks,the heritage of Balinese literature lies in the antiquity of palmyra leaves.

These were the earliest forms of recordings,having become vaults of inherited knowledge,and Bali has its own wealth embodies in the dried and bound leaves of the Borassus flabellifer,collectively knows as lontar.From traditional medicinal recipes,vedic texts,local folklore and literature,to chronologies and royal genealogies,the lonta has become the treasure reference since ancient times.

As Balinese history has close ties to the Majapahit kingdom,the lontar is derived from the Javanese ron and tal,meaning ‘ leaf of the (namesake palm) tal tree’.Both names, rontal and lontal are used alternatively,perhaps among the exam[les of many cases of variations in local language.

Singaraja houses the only lontar museum in Indonesia,the Gedong Kirtya,Formerly as known as the Liefrinck Van Der Tuuk Library,named after the Dutch scientists F.A.Liefrinck and Dr.H.N Van Der Tuuk,who together with the then Raja Of Buleleng,I Gusti Putu Djelantik,gathered and preserved various lontar from Bali and Lombok and built alibrary for the collectionin 1928.The Gedong Kertya has since been a valuable source for study among Balinese scholars and international historians.

Lontar collection besides the thousands successfully collected and kept at the Gedong Kertya are also found in ather palce on the island,some having been subjected to looting during the Ducth colonial period,for example several boasting texts of the Ramayana epic have shown up in a collection at the Leiden University in Holand.The Central Library of Balinese Culture in Denpasar boasts a collection of over 1,700 copies,and a significant amount at the libraries of other university in Bali.A myriad of unaccounted lontar also reside within Balinese villages,particularly belonging to various personal collection,village temples,noble palaces,and Balian shamans.They are traditional kept in dedicated wooden boxes or keropak.Copies of ancient and rare specimens are always made to anticipate loss or deterioration;such works and their contents are regarded as priceless.

Leaf strips are bound between two narrow cover,sometimes pieces of bamboo or wood –thus ‘hardbacks’.Versus paper,the relatively thick leaves of lontar are nor so easily damaged by insect or climatic changes.This durability ha made it possible for them to last for centuries.

Old manuscripts are found to be in Old Balinese,Old Javenese and Sanskrit using Kawi alphabets.As with modern books,there are also illustrative works found in lontar form.Written and drawn using a traditional small sharp knife called a temutik,the final leaf page is rubbed with charcoal,burnt candlenut oil or other traditional darkening agents rendering it readable.Often lemongrass oil is applied to ensure its resilience against insects.These illustrative or ‘comic strips’ are known as a separate and special art form called prasi .

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