Harijayanthan Namboothiri Collection of Palm Leaf Manuscripts [16th century-17th century]

The present head of the repository Mr. Harijayanthan Namboodiri is the last chain of a family who has priestly right over 100 temples of north Kerala. He has acquired the Palm leaf manuscripts from his uncle who was also a priest. Many priests used to visit his house for consultations. It is believed that their family was in possession of around 100000 manuscripts pages but only 30000 pages are left, most of them perished with time, due improper handling practices and lack of preservation techniques. The manuscripts are around 500 years old.