English: The Vedas are scriptures of Hinduism. The Rigveda samhita is dated between 1800 to 1200 CE, while the others to between 1200 and 1000 CE. Each Vedic samhita consists of books.

These texts are in the archaic Sanskrit language and include four layers of texts, samhita being one layer of the Vedic literature.

They contain hymns that cover a wide mix of topics: benedictions, mythologies, questions and riddles, the methodology for yajna sacrifices, potions and incantations, drama and poems, samskara (rites of passage verses), philosophy and mystical speculations. The hymns are set in the form of dialogues, dramatic play, or pedagogic style.

The corpus of Vedic texts, as well all post-Vedic texts, are generally accepted to have been orally transmitted from generation to generation for over a millennium, till about the start of the common era. In Sanskrit, they were written in many Indic scripts. The scripture was written on palm leaf manuscripts, copied for preservation in Hindu temples and monasteries. Later paper and cloth versions were produced, where the page size was similar to the heritage palm leaf-like long pages.

The above image is from Mandala 1, Hymn 1, of a northern recension of the Rigveda manuscript. It shows Rigveda 1.1.1 – 1.1.9. The first line (1.1.1) starts after the Om sign about 60% to the right of the first line, and the page also shows a part of 1.2.1 in the last line. It is dedicated to Agni and Gayatri. The text reads (note the numbering in above manuscript follows the pre-14th century northern tradition, the numbering below is contemporary scholarly tradition):

ऋग्वेदसंहिता । अथ प्रथमं मण्डलम्। अथ प्रथमोऽष्टकः।

These manuscripts are preserved at the Lalchand Research Library, Ancient Indian Manuscript Collection, DAV College Digital Library Initiative, Chandigarh India, in association with SP Lohia and Indorama Charitable Trust. The texts are over 2000 years old, the re-copying into this particular manuscript is a pre-1890 reproduction. The manuscript shows decay and damage on the sides and its edges.

Language: Sanskrit

Script: Devanagari

Script style: pre-14th century (Northern / Western)

The photo above is of a 2D artwork of a text that is over 2,000 years old, from a manuscript that was produced decades before 1923. Therefore Wikimedia Commons PD-Art licensing guidelines apply. Any rights I have as a photographer is herewith donated to wikimedia commons under CC 4.0 license.