Manuscripts

Manuscripts

Manuscripts are ancient books, written either on dried palm leaves or the thick bark of the

branch tree, or on paper. Some of the languages in which the very old books are

written are languages which we in India do not use in everyday life any more, such as Pali

and Prakrit. Others are written in Sanskrit and Arabic, which we still study and sometimes

use in our religious ceremonies although we do not use them at home. Another language

Tamil, which is spoken in South India and whose literature goes to an early period in used

even today. These are called ‘classical langauges’ and the history of many parts of the

world is recorded in various classical langauges.