ABSTRACT
The production of literary manuscripts inscribed on palm leaves has a rich and long tradition in Odisha. Well into the nineteenth century, literary texts were produced, copied and circulated in the form of pothis [palm-leaf manuscripts] and the scribes who copied these played a crucial role in disseminating literature. The scribes, however, did not confine themselves to merely copying the text; in the colophons, they recorded valuable information about their lives, social world and facts relating to their occupation. Debi Prasanna undertakes a close study of pushpikas [colophons] from a comparative perspective by referring to pothis written in Bangla and Odia. He also points out the role played by monasteries as centres of culture where pothis were copied and preserved. Debi Prasanna carefully examines the conventions governing the task scribes engaged in and explains how they illuminate a fascinating world. Colophons enable a modern scholar to date a manuscript and reveal early attempts at using modes of punctuating the text. Some scribes give specific instructions as to how their pothis should be protected from damage and lay elaborate curses on potential thieves. Some of them also mention the time and trouble taken for copying a text and the remuneration received for their labours. Debi Prasanna shows how scribes on occasions lightened the tedium of their task through amusing wordplay. His insightful essay invites the reader’s attention to a neglected but vitally important field of study in Odia criticism. His rigorous analysis of colophons of Odia pothis is a significant contribution to the history of the book before the advent of print culture in Odisha.
