The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Top cover, from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)

Sunday, September 14, 1119 (year 239 of the Newar Samvat in the month of Ashvina)

Eastern India, Bihar, Vikramashila Monastery. Paintings: Nepal, Kathmandu

Covers: Gum tempera, colors, and paper on wood; pages: gum tempera and ink on palm leaves
Covers overall: 6.5 x 57 x 1.5 cm (2 9/16 x 22 7/16 x 9/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1938.301.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Wooden covers of pothi manuscripts are called patli.

Description

Pieces of paper, sandalwood paste, vermilion powder, and spices like turmeric and saffron were ritually added to the top cover of this manuscript during its veneration in ceremonies honoring the Buddha’s teachings. Additionally, this wooden cover would have protected the fragile palm-leaf pages inside. A cord attached to a peg on the left side of the cover would have passed through the two binding holes and wrapped around the manuscript in order to evenly exert pressure and keep the leaves tight. The entire volume would have also been wrapped in cloth to further protect it from the elements and insect damage. Books in this format are very portable, as evidenced by the manuscript’s northward journey from the Vikramashila Monastery in eastern India to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.
  • ?–1938
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1938–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kramrisch, Stella. The Art of Nepal. New York: The Asia Society/Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: Figure 77, p. 103; mentioned: cat. no. 77a and 77b, pp. 43 and 144.
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1994. 5th edition. Reproduced: color plate 10, p. 202; mentioned: p.134.
    Hickmann, Regina, Heinz Mode, and Siegfried Mahn. Miniaturen, Volks- und Gegenwartskunst Indiens. Leipzig: E.A. Seemann Buch und Kunstverlag, 1975. Reproduced: Figure 1; mentioned: p.14.
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    Meahl, Katherine. 2004. “Influence néware dans la peinture tibétaine entre le XIe et le XIVe siècle.” Dossiers d’Archéologie 293 (2004): 86–91. Reproduced: 87; mentioned: p. 86.
    Kim, Jinah. Garland of Visions: Color, Tantra, and a Material History of Indian Painting. Oakland, University of California Press, 2021. Reproduced: Figure 2.3, p. 66; Mentioned: pp. 64-65.
    Hollis, Howard. "A Nepalese Manuscript." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 26, no. 3 (1939): 31-33. Mentioned: pp. 31–33. www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1942. Mentioned: cat. no. 24, p. 24; Reproduced: cat. no. 24, p. 47.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 754. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 233. archive.org
    Marcus, Margaret F. “Sculptures from Bihar and Bengal.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 8 (1967): pp. 240–262. Mentioned: p. 253, fig. 11; Reproduced: p. 252. 25152173
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 233. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 296. archive.org
    Kim, Jinah. "Painted Palm-Leaf Manuscripts and the Art of the Book in Medieval South Asia." Archives of Asian Art 65, no. 1 & 2 (2015). Mentioned: pp. 57-86; Reproduced: p. 62, fig.5; p. 63, fig. 6 & 7.
    O’Mara, Reed. “‘On Golden Tablets’: The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Manuscript as a Self-Referential Icon.” Religions 11, no. 274 (2020): 1-19. Reproduced: Figure 16, p. 15. Mentioned: pp. 14-15. www.mdpi.com
  • Buddhist Art. Detroit Institute of Arts, Twenty-Fourth Loan Exhibition, October, 1942. Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 1942).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.301.a