Guide to Artifacts Lontar Boxes , from the Sasak communities of Lombok Island, Indonesia The lontar or palmyra palm is the tree of life on the mountainous, arid islands of Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara Province. The Sasak communities of Lombok Island use the juice of this hairy, black trunked palm with a fan of leaves at the top to make a nutritious palm sugar for both themselves and their animals.
Local vendors sell a homemade palm wine in the lanes of the villages and towns.
The smooth, waxy leaves are used for rain capes, folded into simple containers or dried and made into a papyrus-like writing paper. The Sasak communities are Islamic or Wektu Telu, a form of Islam combined with the earlier Hindu and Buddhist influences and many of these sacred teachings are recorded in lontar palm books. Traditional lontar box used for household storage Another use for the lontar palm is in decorated household storage boxes. These lontar boxes are made of light wood, bark and split bamboo with the lontar leaves and nassa shells added to the exterior for decoration. The dried palm leaves are strong and flexible with a natural pale yellow surface.