This is one of the oldest surviving and dated Sanskrit palm leaf manuscripts from the Indian subcontinent. It relates to Hinduism, more specifically the Vedic tradition (Shiva-related, Saiva Siddhanta, esoteric tantric Nepalese/Himalayan subschool). It also Contains Few verses of Yajurveda.

Though incomplete and partially damaged, the manuscript contains a substantial portion of the Pārameśvaratantra (also referred to as the Puskaratantra or Puskara-Paramesvaratantra). The palm leaf manuscript shows all signs of age-related decay. Further, the order of the pages are a bit jumbled as the text does not flow from one page to another, but is more meaningfully connected to a distant page inside the book. The manuscript has not been published yet (as of 2018).

The manuscript is significant for its script, which is Late Gupta but in a form close to the Devanagari.

Daniel Wright purchased this manuscript in February 1875 in Nepal. The manuscript is now preserved as MS Add.1049.1 at the Cambridge University LIbrary. The lowest leaf in the photo above is notable for narrating the Sanskrit alphabet list twice (starting in second line, right side after the hole; then repeating in mid-third line, note the shapes and compare with early Gupta, Devanagari). The bottom leaf shows the complete list, both when the original document was authored, and in 828 CE when this manuscript was written down (see the blue and yellow highlighted parts for the first 5 consonants): a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, ṛ, ṝ, ḷ, ḹ, e, ai, o, au, aṃ, aḥ, ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma, ya, va, ra, la, śa, ṣa, sa, ha, kṣa.

Language: Sanskrit

Script: Late Gupta

The photo above is of a 2D artwork created about 828 CE, itself a copy from a text that was authored centuries earlier. The artwork and this 2D photograph, therefore, fall under Wikimedia Commons PD-Art licensing guidelines. Any rights I have as a photographer is herewith donated to wikimedia commons under CC 4.0 license.