Manjeri: As Ramayana Masam begins, a rare 350-year-old palm-leaf manuscript of Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu, authored by Thunchath Ezhuthachan, has found a dedicated custodian in P Abdul Saleem of Mullampara.

Inscribed on palm leaves using a traditional stylus (narayam), the manuscript is among the few surviving copies of its kind. Saleem, popularly known as Saleem Padavanna, has preserved it as part of his efforts to safeguard Kerala's literary and cultural heritage.

Palm leaf manuscripts of Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu are now found only in a handful of repositories, including the Guruvayur Devaswom Library, with many believed to be several centuries old. The copy in Saleem's possession is estimated to be around 350 years old.

As the world embraces the digital and artificial intelligence era, Saleem says preserving the manuscript is also a way of introducing the younger generation to Kerala's rich palm leaf manuscript tradition.

An antiquities collector, Saleem believes the epic reflects our history, literature, culture and communal harmony, making it an enduring symbol of Kerala's cultural heritage.