Texts written on perishable palm leaves first developed in South Asia, and then spread in conjunction with Hinduism and Buddhism to Southeast Asia. These consist of stacks of separate thin oblong pages, with or without cords or pins tying them together. Dried and treated leaves of several palm species were written upon with a metal stylus, and the incised letters were made more visible with soot or ink. As revered texts, they were often stored between ornamental wooden boards (themselves wrapped in luxury textiles.) The leaves, their outer spines, or their wooden covers came to be frequently embellished with gilt and lacquer.

The original oblong form remained in use when palm leaves were replaced by various forms of paper (surprisingly early in Nepal), lacquered cloth, metal, or even ivory. This form influenced book making even into northern regions without palms - within the large Tibetan and Mongolian paper sūtras the palm leaf origin remains discernable, as it does in the parabaik paper accordion-style books.