Page from a manuscript with erotic paintings

Palm leaf manuscripts were widely made and used in South Asia. Because early Buddhist and Hindu texts were transmitted in such forms, their elongated horizontal format was adopted in such areas as Southeast Asia and the Himalayas. In the state of Orissa, in eastern India, palm leaves seem to have been the preferred material for manuscripts until well into the nineteenth century. The illustrations on this page indicate that it belonged to an erotic treatise, as yet unidentified. As in most such manuscripts from this region, the illustrations are incised rather than drawn.