This article offers an overview of the different strategies for binding a particular form of manuscript, namely the pothi. Surveying cases from across Central, South and Southeast Asia, it offers the first comprehensive typology of such strategies, together with an account of the peculiarities and commonalities that can be noticed across these areas. To further contextualize the topic, a few pertinent primary sources are presented to the reader. A short selection of case studies from manuscripts hailing from Tamil Nadu is also included in order to hint at the philological and codicological implications of the 'loose' nature of pothi binding. Nel suo profondo vidi che s'interna, legato con amore in un volume, ciò che per l'universo si squaderna (Divina Commedia, Paradiso, XXXIII, 85-87) 1