AN INITIATIVE OF CRAFT REVIVAL TRUST.  Since 1999
Tada Patra

Handmade & Other Papers

Tada Patra

Tada Patra

Paper

Tada Patra is also known as tala or tali, and is a type of palm tree that was used for writing manuscripts in South India before paper was introduced. According to Al Biruni, it was used in sheets the lenght of one yard and as broad as three fingers, one put beside the other. They bind a book of there leaves together by a cord on which they are arranged, the cord going though all the leaves by a hole in the middle of each. They write the title of the book at the end of it, not at the beginning. In this way it is similar to the prayers books found in Sumatra and Incan Pictorial travel narratives, both of which are loosely bound books.