The Buddhas Sakyamuni and Amitabha

In Tibet, books are not bound. They resemble Indian Buddhist books, which are written on long rectangular pieces of birch bark or palm leaf. Each page is perforated, the pages are placed between wooden slabs and then strung together with a cord passing through the perforations. Tibetan books, hand written or block printed on tough native paper, are not perforated. The loose leaves are stacked in a pile, wrapped in a piece of cloth, and then placed between two wooden covers and bound with a leather throng. These wooden covers are often carved elaborately, then painted, gilted and finally lacquered. Some of them have images painted on paper, which are the inset into a wodden or silk covered frame.