One kind of newly developed genre-specific form in Southeast Asia is the Burmese Kammavācā, formularies for legal ritual procedures. Often made from precious materials, these were eagerly collected by foreign visitors in the 19th century, and hence exist in significant numbers in western libraries. Accordion-style books made of local paper was another kind of form that developed from the palm-leaf shape, called purapuikʻ (in English, often parabaik) in Burmese, samut khō̜i in Thai, or kraing (krāṃṅ) in Cambodian. Usually folded along the long side, they range from blackened notebooks with erasable text written with a soapstone tool, to gorgeously illustrated books folded along the short side to allow for continuous illustrations.

Other materials, more precious than palm leaves, were occasionally used while still maintaining the same form. Lacquered and gilded leaves were also made of cloth, said to be largely limited to royal circles. The titles here contain the discipline rules for monks and nuns, and they were sponsored by King Mindon-min and one of his queens. Shown are the inside title cover, a donation page in regular round script, and the beginning of the text, in inked square script.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Princeton Indic Manuscripts IM 25

For further reading

Lammerts, Christian. “Notes on Burmese manuscripts: text and images.” Journal of Burma Studies 14 (2010): 229-54.

Kammavācā, containing texts for certain monastery rituals and presented to newly ordained monks, were to reach their most precious form in Myanmar, but were used in less precious materials elsewhere as well. This is a Thai accordion-style version on blackened khō̜i paper with gold ink, between wooden boards decorated in gold and black, which was sponsored by royalty, Prince Ratchawong and his consort, Princess Thipphanet, in 1897.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Princeton Indic Manuscripts IM 70

For further reading

Kieffer-Pülz, Petra. “Kammavācā manuscripts: written artefacts for ordination (upasampadā) as a Buddhist monk or nun?” In Written artefacts in rites of passage: on the material culture of initiation, edited by Jochen Hermann Vennebusch and Karin Becker, 63-86. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2025.

Peters, Anne. “Die birmanischen Kammavācā-Sammlungen mit neun Abschnitten.” In Untersuchungen zur buddhistischen Literatur, edited by Heinz Bechert, Sven Bretfeld and Petra Kieffer-Pülz, 273-84. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1997.

Singer, Noel F. “Kammavaca texts: their covers and binding ribbons.” Arts of Asia 23, no. 3 (1993): 97-106.

A Burmese Kammavācā Manuscript and Its Use in the Buddhist Ordination Ritual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjswcKmqPTs

6:46?

Trent Walker (Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Thai Professor of Theravada Buddhism, University of Michigan)

Trent Walker discusses the ritual use of a Burmese Kammavācā, several of which are in this exhibition. The Kammavācā is a highly ornamental book, used in the Buddhist ordination ceremony for new monks entering the monastery within the Theravada tradition in Myanmar.

This video was originally published in conjunction with the exhibition "Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads" (Aga Khan Museum, Toronto Oct. 9, 2021–Feb. 27, 2022) by "The Book and the Silk Roads," a project funded by the Mellon Foundation, co-located at the University of Toronto and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. Used with permission by The Book and the Silk Roads project, and Trent Walker.

The set of Dongba pictographs used by priests of the Naxi community in China is unique as a script and often called “living hieroglyphs.” Originally written on wood or stone, they are used here in a book made from paper in the characteristic palm leaf shape but stitched together at its left side. Reading the script in most ritual books depends on previous knowledge of the text, but more fully written letters and deeds do exist. Displayed here is the first volume of a widespread story of origins.

Gift of Mrs. Adrian H. Joline, 1924, in memory of Adrian H. Joline, Class of 1870

Princeton Indic Manuscripts IM 90

For further reading

Friedrich, Michael. “Lost in translation? A brief history of the study of Dongba manuscripts from its beginnings to 1945.” In Bon and Naxi Manuscripts, edited by Agnieszka Helman-Ważny and Charles Ramble, 269-348. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023.

Poupard, Duncan. A pictorial Naxi origin myth from Southwest China: an annotated translation. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2023.

Sazigyo (written cā-caññḥ-kruiḥ) were ribbons used to bind Buddhist manuscripts of various kinds, into which prayers, poems, or donor names were woven. The one displayed here is a generic donation one, lacking actual names. It was bought in 1900, from the famous dealer, Felice Beato, alongside other curiosities, but we know now that it did not belong to the other items in that purchase.

Gift of Julia Vanuxem Hebard, in memory of Louis Clark Vanuxem, Class of 1879

Princeton Indic Manuscripts IM 74

For further reading

Isaacs, Ralph. Woven miniatures of Buddhist art, sazigyo: Burmese manuscript binding tapes. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2014.

One frequently collected illustrated Thai text made in the accordion-style form is the Legend of Phra Malai. The virtuous monk Phra Malai travels through heaven and hell, and is instructed on how to accumulate merit to relieve suffering for his parents living in hell. Readings of the text, which also includes some humorous elements, took place during night-long funeral wakes. Phra Malai is shown visiting hell in the image on the right.

Graphic Arts L-000017

For further reading

Brereton, Bonnie Pacala. “Phra Malai texts: telling them apart: preface or performance.” Journal of Mekong Societies 13, no. 3 (2017): 1-18.

Brereton, Bonnie Pacala. Thai tellings of Phra Malai: texts and rituals concerning a popular Buddhist saint. Tempe: Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies, 1995.

Heijdra, Martin. “The legend of Phra Malai.” Graphic Arts Collection Blog (July 18, 2018). Accessed May 20, 2025. https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2018/07/18/the-legend-of-phra-malai/

Walker, Trent. “Material evidence for ritual chant in Thailand: Sequence, illumination, instruction, and notation.” Unpublished manuscript, presented at the conference Ritual and Materiality in Buddhism and Asian Religions, Princeton University, June 13, 2023.

The most precious copies of a Kammavācā (in Burmese pronounced kammawasa) were made of gold, silver, or, as here, ivory with texts written with lacquer. This particular set also has a very elaborate cover. The bold, square letters are in the special “tamarind seed” style, and would have been difficult to decipher for an average reader.

Gest Collection, BQ1193.C5 B45

For further reading

Daroczi, Viktor. “The Burmese tamarind script.” Academia (2019). Accessed May 20, 2025. https://www.academia.edu/41452613/The_Burmese_Tamarind_Script

Kieffer-Pülz, Petra. Kammavācā manuscripts: written artefacts for ordination (upasampadā) as a Buddhist monk or nun? In Jochen Hermann Vennebusch and Karin Becker (eds.) Written artefacts in rites of passage: on the material culture of initiation. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2025, 63-86.

Peters, Anne. “Die birmanischen Kammavācā-Sammlungen mit neun Abschnitten.” In Untersuchungen zur buddhistischen Literatur, edited by Heinz Bechert, Sven Bretfeld and Petra Kieffer-Pülz, 273-84. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1997.

Singer, Noel F. “Kammavaca texts: their covers and binding ribbons.” Arts of Asia 23, no. 3 (1993): 97-106.

In Bali there was a rich tradition of preserving palm leaf texts, and they are still occasionally produced, in Old or Middle Javanese and Balinese. The work shown here has been recently identified as a poem written by a 19th century king of the Karangasem Kingdom, whose territory spanned from eastern Bali to western Lombok. It includes impressive wayang-style illustrations called prasi, like the text itself incised using a sharp knife on fine-fiber leaves, and then filled in with charcoal made from a local hazelnut.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Princeton Indic Manuscripts IM 97

For further reading

I Wajan Bhadra, and C. Hooykaas. “Dampati lalangon: Balisch gedicht van West-Lombok, tekst en vertaling, met inleiding en noten.” Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 82, no. 1 (1942): 1-60.

Meij, Dick van der. Indonesian manuscripts from the islands of Java, Madura, Bali and Lombok. Leiden: Brill, 2017.

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