Jain Monumental Paintings of Ahmedabad

Author(s): Shridhar Andhare
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269123/1

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Jain Monumental Paintings of Ahmedabad
Dr. Shridhar Andhare
Pilgrimage is one of the primary institutions in India, which has exercised great influence on the minds of the people of all dimensions. According to Kashi Khanda of Skanda Purana' there are two kinds of Tirthas naniely, Manas Tirtha and the Bhauma Tritha j.e. spiritual and physical objects of pilgrimage. It is said that those whose minds are pure, who are men of virtue and those who are self controlled and saintly beings sanctify the places they visit and theniselves become peripatetic Tirthas. In the Tintha Yatra chapters of Mahabharata? it is mentioned that, “It is the purity of mind and senses, wisdom, truth, freedom from anger, pride and sins and above all treating all creatures as their own selves is the essence of all pilgrimage."
In the second category of physical Tirthas are included the Dharma Tirtha i.e. places noted for men of learning; the Artha Tirtha i.e. centers of trade and industry on the banks of a confluence; the Kama Tirtha i.e. where men of worldly desires enjoyed life in full luxury and the Moksha Tirtha i.e. secluded spots among natural surrounding fit for meditation. More often all or more than one oi the above factors nike a place famous as a place of pilgrimage such as Varanasi, Avanti, Dwarika and many others which are common to other religions including Jainism. Buddhism inspired Buddha's disciples in creating holy spots. The same phenomenon hoids good for Hinduism and Jainism. We observe that even the aboriginal cult figures of Yakshas and Nagas were assimilated to fulfill the needs of the Buddhist, the Brahminical and Jain pantheons which gave rise to new Tirthas. At this point of time the Sthala Mahatmya' evolved and regarded each Tirtha as the epitome of the entire country. I. N. P. Joshi. Skanda Purana (Marathi Trans.) sake 1905. Pune. Sec
Kashi Khanda (Uttarardha) pp. 197-252. 2. Mahabharata. Asanyaka Parvan. ch.80. 3. ob-cit.

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[92] The ancient Jain tradition, rich in its system of philosophy, religion and cthics presents in its Tirthas an equally interesting cross section of Indian cultural heritage. This vast material is recorded in the Tirthamala, or the memoirs of the Jain pontiffs, of thc Sanghas. Practically all the great centers of civilization were included among the Jain Tirthas such as Mathura, Kampilya, Ahichhatra, Hastinapur. Rajagraha, Kaushambi, Ayodhaya, Mithila, Avanti, Pratisthana, Champa(Bhagalpur), Pataliputra, Sravasthi, Varanasi, Prayag, Nasikeya, Prabhas, Dwarika and many others.
Acharya Jinabhadra Suri (ca. 14th cent.) preserved the records of the Jain religious tradition in his Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, a compendiuni of hymns and stotras composed by these wandering religious teachers, constitute a valuable account of their literary activities and provide a religious history of the Sanghas. The heads of such pilgrimages were called Sanghapatis who organized such activities under the guidance of some spiritual teacher Or Achāraya and undertook its financial responsibility. It is this pious act which carned them the honorific title of Sanghapatis, Sanghvi or Sanghi in Hindi, Gradually, this concept gave a great impetus to the Tirtha Yatra activity among the Jain community and achieved for it a vitality and continuity unknown elsewhere. Thus, it is apparent that like other sects, the Jains also had and still have their Tirhtas or holy places all over India. They are invariably located on picturesque hilltops which are difficult to access, but which provide undoubiedly, the most natural suutoundings for concentration. Fanious among them are Satrunjaya and Gimar in Gujarat, Sanmeta Shikhara in Bihar and Astapada (the exact location of this Tirtha in geographical terms is not clear, though it is ragarded as one of the Tirthas by the Jains).
It is customary for the Jains to visit the Tirtha of Satrunajaya at least once in their lifetime to gain wisdom because this Tirtha is most sacred to them. For those who are unable to visit the Tirtha, the Jains created a nudition of commissioning such painted Patas (cloth banners) illustrating the Tirthas in a symbolic and cartographic manner. A number of such banners have been published by the

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[ 93 ] author in the recent catalogue of "The Peaceful Liberators.'+ These banners are hung oriented toward the direction of the Satrunjaya hill, at sacred jain locations such as temples, Upasrayas (temporary resting places for itinerant Jain monks and nuns) and other such institutions on the day of Kartik sud punam, i.e. on a full moon day of the month of Kartika (October-November) for public viewing. On this day thousands of devotees visit and worship the Pata and the Tirtha of Satrunjaya is thrown open to all from this day. As a result of this religious belief wealthy Jain families often commissioned painting of Tirtha Patas mainly on cloth. Therefore we see a number of such banners surviving even today. Moreover, such Patas were also made on wooden planks, in plaster work on temple walls and also carved in stone in low relief, to be displayed inside the temples. The earliest examples of these can be seen at the Osian and the Ranakpur temples in Rajasthan which date back to the 11th and the 15th centuries respectively. :
It is generally observed that smaller Panchatirthi Patas • i.e. banners showing five Trithas, were of early dates and were by and large preserved in folded or scroll forms for casy portability, Subsequently the size of the Patas become farge as they were in tended to be displayed in Jain public places for big audiences. Some of these Patas bear inscriptions mentioning the place, time of creation and also the names of the benefactors etc. Two such interesting specimen of Vividha Tirthi Patas? are dicussed here in detail. These form the subject matter of this paper.
4.
5. 6.
Pratapaditya Pal. The Peaceful Liberators. Jain Ait from India. LACM 1994. See Jain Monumental Paintings. U.P.Shah. Vardhamana Vidya Pata. JISOA Vol.X. 1942. pp 42-51. Shridhar Andhare.“A note on the Mahavira Samavasarana (pata). Chhavi I. Golden Jubilee Volume. Bharat Kala Bhavan, Benares, 1972. U. P. Shah. Treasures of Jain Bhandaras. L. D. Series 69. Ahmedabad 1978. col. pls. V and VI; B+W pls. 131-133. Also see Shridhar Andhare. painted Banners on cloth: Vividha Tirtha Pata of Ahmedabad. Marg, Homage to Kalamkari. Bombay, 1979, p. 40.

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[94]
Both the Patas are in a vertical format, the longest one measuring 4.5 x 1.20m. of the Samvegi Jain Upasraya and the other somewhat shorter measuring 3.5 x 1.08m. of the Anandji Kalyanji Pedbi, in Ahmedabad diplay identical subject matter of illustrating various Tirthas in a symbolic manner. Both have extensive colophons and Sanskrit text relating to pictures on the Pata describing cach, line by line. Such a practice is noted here for the first time.
Apsit from mentioning the name of the benefactor as Seth Shantidas of Ahmedabad, the Jain magnate of the Mughal period3, the scribe mentions a succession of the great Jain monks of the late Akbar early Jehangir period starting from Shri Hiravijayji to Vijayasena Suri to Rajasagar Suri to Buddhisagar Suri and others by whose commands the Pata was ordered by Seth Shantidas. The end of the long colophon mentions the following in Devanagari script.
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"स्वस्ति श्री. विक्रम संमत् १६९८ वर्षे ज्येष्ठ सितमहाराजाधिराज पातशाह श्री. अकबर प्रतिबोधक.... हीरविजयसूरि पट्टोदय गिरि दिनकर भट्टारक श्री. विजयसेन सूरिश्वराणाम् भट्टारक श्री. राजसागर सूरि चरणानाम्, युवराज भट्टारक श्री. बुद्धिसागर सूरि प्रमुखानेक वाचना दि चतुर परिकर चरणानाम् उपदेशात् अहिमदाबाद वास्तव्ये ओसवाल ज्ञातीय श्री. चिंतामणी पार्श्वनाथ प्रासादादि, धर्म, कर्म, निर्माण, निष्णात शा. श्री. शांतिदासेन सकल मनुष्य योग्य पंचभरत, पंचैरावत, पंचमहाविदेहातीतानागता ? वर्तमान २०, विरहमान ४, शाश्वतजिन शाश्वत जिन तोर्थपट श्री. शत्रुंजय, गिरिनार, तारंगा, अर्बुत, चन्द्रप्रभु, मुनिसुव्रत, श्रीजिराईला पार्श्वनाथ, च, श्री. नवखंडा पार्श्वनाथ, देवकुल पाटक, मथुरा, हस्तिनागपुर, कलिकुंड, कलवृद्धि करहाटक साचोर आदि नाम युक्त सप्तविषत नामं इदम्."
Though the last few lines of this colophon are not legible. the rest undoubtedly confirms that the Pata was commissioned by Seth Shantidas living at Ahmedabad in A.D. 1641. The Samvegi Upasraya Pata has also similar text but certain portoins have been left blank. However both colophons need detailed study.
From this claborate colophon it would be apparent that Seth
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8. M.S.Commisseriat. A History of Gujarat. Vol. II. Orient Longmans. Bombay. 1957. Ch. XIII. p. 140-143.

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[95] Shantidas was a devout Jain and spent his great resources freely on purposes enjoyed by his faith. His career and activities flourished during the reigns of Emperor Jehangir and Shah Jahan and his great resources as a financier, and business connections at the inperial court as a jeweller, enabled him to enjoy considerablc favour and influence at the imperial court at Delhi. He had attained a very high social position and was niade the first "Mayor of Ahmedabad" by social voice. During the course of his magnificent career he built the temple of Chintamani Parsvanath in a suburb of Ahmedabad.
According to Chintamani Prasasthi", a Sanskrit verse, written in A.D. 1640, on the basis of the original copy found by Muni Jinavijayaji in Ahmedabad, this teniple was begun in A.D. 1621 during the regin of emperor Jehangir by Seth Shantidas and his brother Vardhaman. In view of Jehangir's happy relations with Jain leaders and his tolerance of their religion, the construction of the temple was finally completed in A.D. 1625. This monument was seen by an itinerant German traveller Mendelslo, who confims that after his visit Aurangzeb converted this temple into a masjid. Another French traveller by the name of M.de Thevenot who visited the city in A.D. 1666, writes that, "The inside roof of the niosque is pretty enough and the walls are full of the figures of men and beasts etc.” This brings to light the fact that there was painting activity in Ahmedabad in the early 17th century. Moreover, Shah Jahan also issued a number of farians in favor of Shantidas which throw significant light on the activities of that period. A detailed study of these documents is on the way.
In yet another instance quoted in the Jain Rasamalalo which, apart fron giving a vivid account of Shantidas's career mentions in Gujarati that, "IIc had got made several Tirtha Patas of Siddhachal and others fron emperor Akbar.'
મહાન અકબર અને જહાંગીર બાદશાહ પાસે તેમનું સારી રિતે માન હતુ. અકબર બાદશાહ પાસેથી તેમણે સિદ્ધાચલ તીર્થાદિના પટ્ટાઓ કરાવી લીધા હતા.” 9. ob-cit 10. Jain Rāsamála (Gujarati). P1.1. Srimad Buddhisagarji Grantha mala. No.
24. Bombay 1902, p. 8.

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[96]
It is well known that Ahmedabad and Patan in Gujarat have been prolific conters of Jain and secular paintings on paper and cloth till about the middle of the 15th century, of which the Champaner Panchatirthi Patal1 of A.D. 1433, and the Vasanta Vilasa scroll of A.D. 14512. painted at Ahmedabad are the major landmarks. It is very likely that due to the frequent visits of the Mughal royalty in and around Gujarat in the late Akbar-early Jehangir period that practicing Gujarati painters shed some of their earlier characteistic features and adopted new conventions of dress and landscape as evidenced by the Matar Sangrahani Sutra of A.D. 1583 13, now in the collection of the L.D.Museum in Ahmedabad. At the same time the cultural scenario of Ahmedabad appears to be gradually changing. Obviously, Seth Shantidas's cordial relations with the imperial Moghuls at Dehli may have brought about certain changes which are reflected in the arts and crafts of that period. Art of miniature painting in particular shows a new understanding in the first quarer of the 17th century in the so called popular Moghul documents but with a strong Rajasthani and Gujarati flavor. This material was discovered and published in the last two decades of which the MS. of Anwar-i-Suhaili of A.D. 160114 painted at Ahmedabad, the Cowasji Jehangir folio of Gita Govinda' and a set of horizontal Ragamala paintings published by Saryu Doshi and Tandon in Marg and the latest set of Bhagavata Purana1 discovered by the author, all
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11. Moti chandra. Jain miniature Painting from Westem India. Ahmedabad 1949. Figures. 177,182, also see N.C.Mehta, A Painted Roll from Gujarat. A.D.1433 Indian Arts and Letters Vol. VI. pp. 71-78. 12. Norman Brown. The Vasanta Vilasa. New Haven 1963 13. Moti chadra and U.P.Shah. New Documents of Jain Paintings. Mahivara Jain Vidyalaya, Pt. I. Bombay. 1968. p. 356.
14. R.Pinder Wilson. Paintings from the Islamic Land. Oxford 1969, pp.
160-171.
15. Karl Khandalavala and Moti Chandra. Miniatures and sculptures from the late Sir Cowasji Jehangir Bart. Bombay 1965. col. pl.D. Fig. 69.
16. Saryu Doshi and R.K.Tandon. Marg. 1981. Notes.
17. An Illustrated MS. of Bhagvata Purana. (Private collection.) Unpublished.

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[97] may belong to Gujarat or may have been painted in Gujarat up to ca. 1650 A.D.
In respect of building activity of Gujarat in the carly 17th century, especially at the mosque of Sarkhej ka Roza in Ahmedabad; there are extant remains of wall paintings above the arches and on the interior of tombs of some of the subsidiary mosques in the contemporary Mughal style, which stylistically resemble the two Suri Mantra Patas of the early 17th century, published by Sarabhai Nawab 8. These Patas have been lost but they impart a glimpse of the style that prevailed in Ahmedabad in the early 17th century.
The Pata from Prachya Vidya Pratisthana, Paladi, Ahmedabad which represents Vividha Tirhtas again is an example of the type of painting that was done at Ahmedabad in the early 17th cenniry. It is a curious mixture of Mughal and Jain clements with male and female figures clad in contemporary Mughal costume. The next two large vertical Patas from Samvegi Jain Upasraya and Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi respectively, hereafter culled no. I and no. 2 are quite similar in many respects and are perhaps painted by the same hand at the same time. They are divided into four parts horizontally. The only difference being that the first has the colophon on the top whereas the second has it at the bottom.
The general arrangements of Patas shows the ground conpletely filled with smaller rectangles of different colours showing seated Tirthankaras and other deities in rows numberin 904. The first register from the top has a Shikhara shaped arrangenient with ascending steps having rectangles filled with cosmological calculations, smaller and larger temples and other figures etc. The second register has two Tirthas, Satrunjaya above and Girnar Garh below, divided by a second line of boundary wall. The drawing and painting in this square is similar to what one observes in the Mewar Ramayana of 1649 by Manohar. This does not appear to be very far in date from the Patas presently under discussion. In this seniistylized landscape the artist has tried to give a number of symbolic
18. Sarabhai Nawab. Suri Mantra Vidhi, Ahmedabad 1971.

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[98] and historic details which can be interpred. It shows a number of teniples, Kundas, lakes and ohter details, The last register has various other Tirthas including Astapada and Sammeta Sikhara. The arrangement here is so complex that it becomes rather difficult to identify. However, the following; Sri Satrunjaya, Girinara, Taranga, Arbhuta, Chandraprabhu, Muni Suvrata, Sri Giraila Parsvanath, Kalavriddhi, Karahataka, Scahor etc. are included in the text. The jast two examples are late and belong to the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi and the Samvegi Jain Upasraya respectively. I acknowledge the courtesy of the institutions which have allowed me access to their naterial in the preparation of this paper. I am also thankful to Shri Laxmanbhai Bhojak and Shri Amrutbhai Patel for their help in reading the colophon.