New Documents of Jaina Paintings

Author(s): Moti Chandra, Umakant P Shah
Publisher: Z_Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_Mahotsav_Granth_Part_1_012002.pdf and Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/250226/1

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New Documents of Jaina Paintings Moti CHANDRA UMAKANT P. SHAH INTRODUCTION REFORE the treasures of the Jaina Bhandaras were partially made available to scholars, almost nothing was known about the history of painting in Western India roughly from 1100 A.D. to 1550 A. D. The history of these Jaina Jnana-Bhandaras is closely associated with the progress and conservation of learning in Western India. Their foundation is attributed to a big famine which occurred in the fifth century as a result of which the majority of Jaina monks died and the sacred lore of the Jainas suffered terribly. Therefore, in order to save the Jaina lore from complete extinction some steps had to be taken. A council under the presidentship of Devarddhigani was summoned in circa 453 A.D. at Valabhi and, with the consent of the monks assembled there, the Jaina canon was committed to writing. However not much is known about the progress of book writing in the following centuries. But there is every possibility that the Jnana-Bhandaras were founded; and these became the custodians of this sacred literature. However, one thing is certain that by the tenth century Jaina monks had realised the great educational value of the Jnana-Bhandaras. Their founders took great pains to explain to the intelligentsia the

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 349 importance of the religious and secular texts which had been accumulating for over 500 years. Such foundations encouraged the Jaina bankers and laymen to order copies of the sacred texts and present them to the monks who in their turn deposited them in the Jnana-Bhandaras for the benefit of posterity. In order to encourage this movement Jnana-puja etc. were held from time to time and this kept up the interest of laymen in learning. In this connection may be mentioned the names of Siddharaja Jayasimha and Kumarapala, the renowned rulers of Gujarat. Jayasimha (1098-1143.A.D.) is said to have employed about three hundred scribes to copy out books on religious and secular matters for the Imperial Library. It is further observed that the King got several copies of different works made and distributed them to scholars all over India. Kumarapala (1143-1172 A.D.) is said to have established twenty-one Jnana-Bhandaras. He is said to have employed seven hundred scribes and some of the manuscripts are said to have been written in gold. The example of these two Solanki rulers was followed by several great Jaina ministers including Vastupala and Tejapala. The two brothers became interested in learning and in Jnana-Bhandaras on the advice of their teachers Vijayasenasuri and Udayaprabhasuri.3 They are said to have established three big libraries at a cost of several millions of rupees. Pethad Shah (Skt. Pithvidhara), a minister of Parmara Jayasimha at Mandu-gadh (Mandapa-durga) in circa V. S. 1320 (= 1263 A.D.) is said to have founded Jnana-Bhandaras in seven cities including Broach, Devagiri, Mandu and Abu. Though the Jnana-Bhandaras were basically sectarian in nature, it is remarkable that the Jainas did not mind preserving in them books belonging to different faiths for ready reference and criticism. They also collected and preserved manuscripts of the work of the great poets of India including Kalidasa, works which, as the colophons say, 1 Prabhavaka-Carita (Singhi Series No. 13, Bombay 1940). Hemacan drasuri-Prabandha, verses 103-109. A similar tradition is also noted in another Jaina work entitled Kumarapala-pratibodha (G. O. Series, Vol. 14). 2 Kumarapala-pratibodha, pp. 96-97. Also see, Upadesatarangini, p. 140. 3 Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa of Jinaprabhasuri (Singhi Series No. 10, Santiniketan, 1934), section entitled Vastupala-Samkartana. 4 According to Upadesatarangini (quoted by Desai, M. D.) in Jaina Sahityano Samksipta Itihasa (in Gujarati, Bombay 1933), pp. 404405. Also see, Gandhi L. B., Aitihasika Lekhasamgraha (in Gujarati, Baroda, 1963), pp. 416, 514, 540 for an account of Pethad Shah.

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350 SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME were written by and for the Jainas. This shows that the Jaina monks in the middle ages were not narrow-minded communalists, but fully realised the importance of libraries preserving the literature of all the faiths. In that way they acted as the torch-bearers of Indian culture in the middle ages. The Jnana-Bhandara is a peculiarly Jaina institution. The JnanaBhandaras of Svetambara Jainas appear all over the Gujarat, Rajasthan, Malwa and Delhi-Agra (U. P.) region. The Digambara Jainas too had their Jnana-Bhandaras mostly confined to Delhi-Agra and Rajasthan but also extending as far as Karanja near Nagpur and as far South as Mudabidri in Mysore. The most important of the Svetambara Bhandaras are situated at Patan, Cambay, Jesalmere, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Idar, Surat, Kaccha, Chanasma, Limdi, Chhani, etc. These contain important collections of manuscripts on both palm-leaf and paper. Inspite of this richness of the Bhandaras the important pictorial material which they contained was for a long time not available to scholars. However, in the first quarter of the twentieth century a part of it was acquired from private collections, and was made available to scholars through the indefatigable efforts of Glassenap and Coomaraswamy. The latter published his Catalogue of Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Part IV, dealing with Jaina paintings of Western Indian origin. It opened a new field of study in which participated a number of scholars including W. Norman Brown, N. C. Mehta, Muni Sri Punyavijayji, O. C. Ganguly, Ajit Ghosh, S. M. Nawab, M. R. Majmudar, Motichandra, U. P. Shah, Pramod Chandra. and others. However, in the beginning such efforts were naturally quite sporadic. The fault did not lie with the scholars. The difficulties were entirely due to the non-availability of sufficient material. In 1935, however, due to the joint efforts of Muni Sri Punyavijayaji and Sarabhai Nawab, Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol.I was published, in Gujarati, for the first time. A large number of illustrated manuscripts on cloth, palm-leaf and paper, hidden away in the inaccessible Jnana-Bhandaras were introduced to the students of Indian art. work supplemented the pioneer work of Coomaraswamy and W. Norman Brown in this field. Since then illustrated manuscripts are turning up 5 In 1913, Hutteman published Miniatures from the Kalpa-sutra in his Miniaturen-Zum-Jinacarita, Baessler Archiv, Band II, heft 2. In 1914, Coomaraswamy published his Notes on Jaina Art, in Journal of Indian Art and Industry, Vol. 16, pp. 81 ff & plates.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 351 fast from Bhandaras and private collections. These have added significantly to the history of Indian painting roughly between 1100 and 1550 A. D. The new material thus made available to scholars consists of painted wooden panels, cloth-paintings, palm-leaves and paper manuscripts. It was at first believed that Jaina paintings were stereotyped, that the illustrators were unaware of decoration and that owing to the sacred nature of their art they hesitated to experiment and change the composition. But with the availability of the new material it is evident how mistaken scholars were in underestimating the great contributions of these paintings or the illustrators of the Jaina manuscripts. The manuscript material, available to this date, suggests that the first half of the fifteenth century was a formative period of Western Indian Art. The great forward movement in Jaina manuscript painting which seems to have begun in the last quarter of the fourteenth century took great strides in this period. The manuscript material so far available shows that there was a definite attempt to improve the quality of the drawing and colours and that a certain degree of latitude was allowed to the painters to express their ideas in their own way. With its centre at Patan (Sri-Pattana), Gujarat (other known centres being Ahmedabad, Gandhar, Vadnagar, Champaner or Campakadurga etc.) was perhaps the most important centre of inspiration for the artists; Mandu, which was another big Jaina centre of the mediaeval period, was equally great so far as Jaina illustrated manuscripts are concerned. The manuscript of Kalpa-sutra painted at Mandu in 1439 A. D., now in the National Museum,6 gives certain interesting data about the new advancements in Western Indian Paintings. For the first time we get a Sanskrit name for an illustrated manuscript, namely, Kalapustaka?. The bold draughtsmanship, the enamel-like colours and the refined treatment of human figures show that the art was no longer hieratic but became more concerned with aesthetic implications. That this manuscript is not a solitary phenomenon is further supported by another manuscript of Kalakacarya-katha 6 Pramod Chandra, Notes on Mandu Kalpa-sutra of A.D. 1439, Marg, Vol. XII, on. 3 (June, 1959), pp. 51-54. Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, A consideration of an Illustrated MS. from Mandapadurga (Mandu) dated 1430 A.D., Lalit Kala, No. 6 (1959), pp. 8-29 and plates. 7 It will be necessary to check the reading from the original and make sure that the reading is Kalapustaka and not Kalpapustaka.

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352 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME of Mandu origin in the collections of Muni Sri Punyavijayaji.la Amongst the new discoveries showing the progress which Western Indian painting made in the first quarter of the fifteenth century may be mentioned the magnificent manuscript of Kalakacarya-katha in the collection of Sri Premchandra Jaina, Bombay. It is dated 1414 A. D. and was probably painted at Patan. This manuscript again shows careful draughtsmanship and love for detail and an abhorrence of the use of ultramarine and gold which are supposed to have become popular in the second half of the fifteenth century. The newly discovered Kalpa-sutra and Kalakakatha dated 1346 A.D. however is now the earliest known instance of the liberal use of gold (Colour plate I-Fig. I). Due to the momentum gained in the fifteenth century, painting in Western India took further strides which resulted in the advancement of painting in two directions; firstly, strenuous effort was made by the Jaina bankers to bring an hitherto undreamt of sumptuousness into the illustrated manuscripts of Kalpa-sutra and Kalakacarya-katha. Costly colours like gold, lapis lazuli and carmine, formerly used very sparingly, were now very liberally used and some of the pious Jainas therefore got their manuscripts lavishly decorated. For example, the illustrated manuscript of Kalpa-sutra and Kalakacarya-katha in the collection of Devasano Pado which was probably painted in c. 1475 A.D. at Gandhara port (near Broach) shows the extent to which a Jaina merchant's devotion could go in order to give the manuscript a sumptuousness hitherto undreamt of. Decorative patterns drawn from architecture, textiles, carpets, fill the borders. Dancers and musicians, devotees and monks fill the border decoration of every page.8 Above all, this manuscript shows that under the impetus of the new movement the painters of Gujarat were evolving a new style in which Persian elements played an important part. The illustrator also shows a greater understanding of the landscape and of the social life of people. Another manuscript of the same type, which we are reproducing (Figs. 9, 12, 13) from Jamnagar Ancalagaccha collection, shows that there were other illustrators in Gujarat who, taking their cue from the Gandhara Port manuscript, were producing equally fine decorative work. The Jamnagar manuscript was painted at Sri-Pattana in V.S. 7a Recently published by Pramod Chandra in Bulletin of The American Academy of Banaras, No. 1. 8 Nawab, S. M., Jaina Citrakalpadruma, I, (Ahmedabad, 1936), figs. 114-142, 165 etc. Motichandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India, (Bombay, 1949), figs. 106-138.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 353 1558 = 1501 A.D. The result of all these experiments in the field of manuscript illustration apparently created a fervour which resulted in a great leap forward so far as the subject matter was concerned. No longer did painting remain the preserve of the Jainas. In the second half of the fifteenth century Vaisnavas apparently adopted the Western Indian technique for illustrating some of their books such as Gitagovinda and Balagopala Stuti10. These manuscripts, though they follow the Jaina technique, show a liveliness, a sense of movement and an emotional understanding which is different from the matter-of-fact Jaina painting so hidebound by the stereotyped tradition. Of this new movement in painting the earliest document is naturally the secular scroll paintings of Vasantavilasa dated 1451 A. D.11 This was not a solitary phenomenon; for even the Jaina painters, taking their cue from this new movement, introduced a new emotional element so apparent in the illustrations of the Damayanti Katha, and the Madhavanala-Kamakandala recently discovered and discussed in the following pages. This new movement in art was not confined to Gujarat, Malwa and Rajasthan only. There is evidence to prove that the movement had spread as far as Uttara Pradesh and had affected the progress of 9 Majmudar, M. R., A Newly discovered Gita-Govinda Manuscript from Gujarat, late 15th century, Journal of the University of Bombay, September, 1941; pp. 119-131. A Fifteenth Century Gita-Govinda MS., etc., Journal of the University of Bombay, May, 1938. Khandalavala, Karl, A Gita-Govinda Series in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, No. 4 (1953-54), pp. 1-18 and plates. 10 Brown, W. Norman, Early Vaisnava Miniature Paintings from Western India, Eastern Art, Vol. II (1930), pp. 167-206. M. R. Majmudar, The Gujarati School of Painting and some newly discovered Vaisnava Miniatures, Journal of Indian Society of Oriental Art, Vol. X (1942), pp. 1-32 and plates. Also see Khandalavala, Karl, Leaves from Rajasthan, Marg, Vol. IV, No. 3 (1950), pp. 1-24, 49-56, for miniatures of Bhagavata Purana, etc. 11 Brown, W. Norman, The Vasanta Vilasa (New Haven, 1942), with plates. Mehta, N. C., Indian Painting in the 15th century; An early illustrated manuscript, Rupam, No. 22-23 (1925), pp. 61-65. Mehta, N.C., Gujarati Painting in the Fifteenth Century (London, 1931). Ganguly, O.C., Vasanta-Vilasa, a new document of Indian Painting, Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, New Folge, Vol. 2 (1925), pp. 186-189. GJ.y. 23

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354 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME painting in that part as evidenced by the illustrations of the Kalpasutra painted at Jaunpur in 1465 A.D.12 Though following the hieratic tradition, this manuscript shows a new movement and a new approach to figure-drawing which finally evolved in the Rajasthani type. By the closing years of the fifteenth century the art of Western India (after considerable experimentation for almost 200 years) began to take new directions. It was found out that certain conventions in Western Indian Art had played themselves out. For instance, the farther eye had gradually lost its organic hold and had become merely a decorative feature. It is difficult to say exactly where and when this feature was eliminated, but there is evidence to show that, by 1500 A.D., this feature was found redundant and was eliminated. Apparently in this period the illustrating of Persian classics was also undertaken. They began to be illustrated by Indian artists. In such illustrations it may be seen that the Indian artists had simplified the Persian elements and had tried their best to effect a synthesis between the Indian and Persian elements,13 Not only that but in this period there is evidence to show that in Uttara Pradesh heroic stories such as the Laur Canda and Mirgavati etc. were being illustrated in the Western Indian tradition 14. That this Western Indian tradition had taken hold over almost all of North India is further proved by a new Buddhist wooden-pata, illustrated in A.D. 1446 at Arrah in East Bihar15. Not only that, but 12 Jaina Citrakalpadruma, I, figs. 1, 163, 179, 181, 183, 196, 199, etc. Moti Chandra, Jaina Miniature Paintings from Western India, Figs. 99-105. Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, An illustrated Kalpa-sutra Painted at Jaunpur in A.D. 1465, Lalit-Kala, No. 12, pp. 9 ff. and plates. 13 Karl Khandalavala, The Origin and Development of Rajasthani Painting, Marg, Vol. XII, No. 2 (March, 1958), pp. 4-17 with plates. Also see, Pramod Chandra, An Outline of Early Rajasthani Painting, Marg, Ibid., pp. 32-37. 14 Rai Krishnadasa, An Illustrated Avadhi Manuscript of Laur Chanda in the Bharat-Kala-Bhavan, Banaras, Lalit-Kala, Nos. 1-2 (April 1955-March, 1956), pp. 66-71 and plates. Rai Ananda Krishna, Some Pre-Akbari Examples of Rajasthani Illustrations, Marg, Vol. XI, No. 2 (March, 1958), (Special issue on Rajasthani Painting), pp. 18-21, Figures 1-5 illustrating Miniature Paintings of Mirgavati. 15 Pal, Pratapaditya, A New Document of Indian Painting, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, Dec. 1965, pp. 103-111 and plates.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS: 355 going still further there are documents from Nepal also which indicate that the Western Indian tradition had become a common mode of expression by the 15th century. In the early sixteenth century painting from Gujarat and elsewhere took further strides. In this period Malwa and some places in Uttara Pradesh became important centres of painting. The art of this period may be divided in two phases, one classical and the other folk. It may be further noted that even though the traditional Western Indian features continue, the general tendency is towards the elimination of the farther eye. Mandu became an important centre of the classical phase. Here art was first time patronised by a Muslim court. The Ni'mat Namah manuscript16 shows that the School of Shiraz played an important part in its formation, though the indigenous traditions as seen in the Kalpa-sutra and Kalakakatha manuscripts painted in almost the middle of the fifteenth century at Mandu have left their impression on the Ni'mat Namah miniatures. In the absence of dated material, it is difficult to be sure about how painting in Gujarat reacted to new tradition when there should be no doubt that here as well the tradition had come to stay. However Gujarat and Marwar being the home of a rigid and hieratic technique in painting, the progress was not so fast as elsewhere. The old colour scheme continued to be followed. Yellow carnation was still their favourite colour and the landscape and decoration show the same simplicity of the older Jaina manuscripts. In the sixteenth century, however, the Digambaras, impressed by the propaganda value of Svetambara illustrated manuscripts, also commissioned the Mahapurana which they held in as great reverence as the Svetambaras held the Kalpa-sutra 16a. It seems that towards the end of the fifteenth century the illustration of Mahapurana started. The Digambaras first patronised the prevailing Western Indian style though their emphasis on movement was quite different from the static poses of figures in the Svetambara manuscripts. The area near about Delhi became a centre for illustrating Digambara Jaina manuscripts. The Mahapurana dated 1540 A.D. painted 16 Skelton, Robert, The Ni'mat Namah: a landmark in Malwa Painting, Marg, Vol. XII, No. 3 (June, 1959), pp. 45-50. 16a They also commissioned the Yasodhara-carita with greater scope for introducing secular elements, as the recent discovery of a number of manuscripts by Shrimati Sarayu V. Doshi shows.

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356 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME at Palam shows a different approach to painting. The farther eye is eliminated but in composition, the colour scheme, and in the representation of the human figure the legacy of the old tradition is present. But this legacy of the older tradition was not the sole property of the Jaina manuscript illustrators alone. The Hindus as well started to patronise painting. In 1516 A.D. the Aranyaka Parvan of the Mahabharata17 was illustrated at a place near Agra. It shows the same characteristics as the Mahapurana. The painting in Uttara Pradesh was not confined to religious texts alone. The work of the poets in Avadhi, such as Mulla Davood (the author of Laur Canda who lived in the third decade of the fourteenth century) and Kutbun (the author of Mirgavati who lived in the early sixteenth century) became favourite subjects of painting. The Laur Canda, as is evident from the stray leaves in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, began to be illustrated in the closing years of the 15th century, and follows the Western Indian technique. In the early 16th century, however, it seems to have received royal patronage as the illustrations on Laur Canda in the Prince of Wales Museum 18 prove that under the new developments, the style assumed a richness that is beyond one's imagination. It may be truly termed as the classical style of Uttara Pradesh in the early 16th century. What happened during the Mughal period to the popular religious Jaina and other themes in Western India is well-known. Painters in Gujarat played an important part in the Mughal atelier of Akbar. Soon the pupils of these painters spread out in search of their livelihood to Gujarat and Rajasthan and this laid the foundation of the Popular Mughal style. This is a style in which though the figure drawing and costumes and to a very limited extent the landscape are indebted to the Mughal style yet the older traditions both in colour and landscape persist. The influence of the Mughal painting in that of Western India is manifested in two styles: the Popular Mughal style in which the Mughal style is used with a certain simplicity and the Folk style which has only certain resemblances with Mughal painting but which was used very extensively for satisfying the popular demand. 17 Moti Chandra and Karl Khandalavala, An Illustrated Manuscript of the Aranyaka Parvan, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bombay, New Series, Vol. 38, pp. 166-221 and plates. 18 Karl Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, Three New Documents of Indian Painting, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, No. 7, pp. 23-34 and plates.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 357 Documents of Uttara Pradesh origin are now forthcoming from the Jaina Bhandaras. These show that in the 17th century Agra and Delhi were not the only centres of the Popular Mughal style but Asani near Jaunpur and probably also Nautanpur (whose location is not yet certain but which should be somewhere near the region of Agra) seem to have been flourishing centres. This is evident from the manuscripts of Meghaduta and Kumarasambhava painted at Asanikotta and Nautanpur respectively. . The recent investigations by U. P. Shah have brought to light some very interesting manuscripts from the Jaina collections which throw important light on the history of Western Indian Painting. This new material may be divided into following categories : Group 1 (1) Kalpa-sutra-dated V. S. 1403 = 1346 A. D. (2) Kalaka-katha, in Mandu style, -c. 1440 A. D. Group II (1) Satrunjaya Mahatmya - c. 1420 A. D. (2) santinatha-Caritra-d. V. S. 1453 = 1396 A. D. (But seems to be around c. 1440 A. D. according to U. P. Shah and late 15th c, according to Moti Chandra). (3) Damayantikatha-campu- between 1400 and 1450 A. D. (4) Kalpa-sutra (painted at Vadnagar) - V. S. 1547 = 1490 A. D. (5) Uttaradhyayana-sutra (painted at Patan) -d. V. S. 1549 = 1492 A. D. (6) Madhavanala-Kamakandala-Katha (written in Patan) - V.S. 1550 = 1493 A.D. (7) Candraprabha-Caritra, dated V. S. 1555 = 1498 A. D. at Patan . . (8) Jamnagar Kalpa-sutra and Kalaka-katha (painted at Patan) -V. S. 1558 = 1501 A. D. Group III (1) Kumarasambhava, - V. S. 1701 = 1644 A. D. (painted at Nautanpur) (2) Meghaduta - d. V. S. 1726 = 1669 A. D. (painted at Asanikotta). Group IV (1) Samgrahani-sutra, (copied at Matar, Central Gujarat), - d. 1640 V. S. = 1583 A. D. painted by the Painter Govinda. (2) Samgrahani-sutra, (copied at Cambay),-d. 1644 V. S. = 1587 A. D.

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358 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME (3) Samgrahani-sutra - d. 1637 A. D. in the Prince of Wales Museum. (4) Uttaradhyayana-sutra, (copied at Anjara in Kaccha)-c. 1640-50 A. D. Group V (1) Upadesamala Balavabodha - dated V. S. 1765 = 1708 A. D. (2) Jambudvipaprajnapti - Prameyaratnamanjusa-tika, (donated at Balotara V. S. 1749 = 1692 A.D. but) dating from circa 1606 A. D. (3) Krsnaveli - c. 1650 A. D. (4) Naladavadanti-Rasa (incomplete) in Muni Sri Punyavijaya's collection - undated, c. seventeenth century. (5) Ardrakumara-Rasa - late 17th cent. A. D. (6) Samgrahani-sutra-dated V. S. 1707 = 1650 A. D. (painted at Navharanagara, probably in old Bikaner State). (7) Undated Samgrahani -(c. 1685 A.D.) in Muni Sri Punya vijaya's collections. Group VI (1) Canda-Rasa (copied at Vyaghrasenapura, probably in Gujarat) - V. S. 1712 = 1655 A. D. (2) Canda-Rasa (painted at Surat) - d. V. S. 1716 = 1659 A. D. (3) Devimahatmya (from Surat) - 1776 A. D., Collections of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. (4) Haribala Caupai, d. V. S. 1744 = 1687 A. D. (copied at Sri Dharagrama). Group VII (1) Sri Candrarajano Rasa (Late Deccani - copied at Poona) -1812 A. D. The classified list of new documents also shows the material which U. P. Shah has been able to assemble. It contains perhaps the earliest dated paper manuscript of the Kalpa-sutra and Kalakakatha. Another significant point about the early group is that many of the manuscripts are dated and some of them also bear the names of the places where they were painted. A similar search for illustrated manuscripts which are dated and/or which bear place-names would help us to have a better understanding of the age and provenance of different styles of painting.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 359 An analysis of the manuscripts shows that Gujarat had the following centres of painting-Surat, Vyaghrasenapura, Patan, Cambay, Vadnagar, Matar, Ahmedabad, Anjar, etc. This shows a flourishing state of painting in Gujarat. Apparently there was a large demand for illustrated manuscripts from the Jainas of Gujarat and therefore painters started working in many centres to satisfy the ever-growing demand. Whether these painters devoted themselves exclusively to painting the Jaina manuscripts it is not known. There is, however, every possibility that these painters were not always Jainas and they must have worked for the Hindus as well but unfortunately illustrated Hindu manuscripts discovered so far, are very limited in number. There is no doubt that there is hardly any difference between the Western Indian and Gujarati styles of painting. It is difficult to say whether the unplaced manuscripts in our list belong to Gujarat or Marwar. But the manuscript of the Samgrahani-sutra painted at Navaharnagar belongs to Bikaner area as Navahar is identified with Navghar. Most interesting, however, are the two manuscripts of Meghaduta and Kumarasambhava which are apparently of Uttara Pradesh originone painted at Asani near Jaunpur and the second at Nautanpur not yet identified but probably in Uttara Pradesh. Group I Of special interest for the history of Indian painting are two illustrated Kalpa-sutras, one painted in 1346 A. D. and the other in 1501 A. D. at Patan. Unfortunately the provenance of the first is not given. But probably it was painted at Patan which was a great stronghold of the Svetambara Jaina community from almost the tenth century A. D. onwards. The format of the folios shows clearly that the first manuscript belongs to the early group and could not be dated later than second half of the 14th century (figs. 1-3). The composition is simple but effective : though this was the period when the themes for painting the Kalpa-sutra and Kalaka-katha were being formulated, and, therefore, though the painter shows a certain liking for conventionalised figures, especially in the representation of the king and queen, the acarya preaching to the congregation, yet in certain scenes such as the birth of Mahavira and Indra carrying the baby the painter has expressed a joie de vivre which is pleasing. The colours used are simple :

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360 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME red, green, white, black, carmine, yellow and indigo blue. However the predominant colour used is gold which is not of a shining variety as in the later Kalpa-sutras but well burnished and dull which gives a metallic impression to the figures. If the date of the manuscript is correct, it also contradicts the suggestion that in early manuscripts gold was very sparingly used. It is also significant to note that ultramarine is nowhere seen. The draughtmanship is pleasing. Though the exaggeration in body contour is continued yet a certain amount of reticence is seen. The scene is invariably laid in a conventional wooden arched pavilion. The inside decoration consists of room hangings and some furniture like a cauki and modha. There is no suggestion of landscape except strips of blue edged with gold representing the cloud. It is also interesting to note the emergence of an Indo-Muslim type in Kalaka-katha illustration by 1346 A.D. at least. That shows that by the middle of the fourteenth century at least the Indian and Persian elements had been synthesised. It is also interesting to note that in the scenes representing the Jaina acarya with his pupils the composition is directly copied from the earlier painted wooden panels. The acarya is shown seated on the left side and the laymen are arranged in two groups facing each other. It has been known from two illustrated manuscripts at least that Mandu in the fifteenth century was an important centre of art. The earliest Mandu Manuscript is dated in 1439 A. D. It has proved that Mandu though actually influenced by Western Indian traditions, was not a mere copyist of the School of Patan. The illustrations show that in the colour scheme, draughtsmanship and composition the painters of Mandu had evolved their own conventions. The draughtsmanship is of a very superior quality. The colours are enamellike in nature and the landscape is mostly confined to variegated clouds treated dramatically. Fortunately this limited material on the School of Mandu is further augmented by a recent discovery in the collection of Muni Sri Punyavijayaji of a copy of the Kalakacarya-katha whose illustrations (Figs. 4-5) could be very favourably compared with the Mandu manuscript of the Kalpa-sutra dated 1439 A. D. Again, in the picture showing the meeting of Kalakacarya and Indra in the garb of a Brahmana the features of the Mandu school are well represented. The background is deep red, the carnation of the figures is yellow, the draughtsmanship is very careful and the details of furniture are rendered carefully. The variegated hanging clouds complete the picture.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 361 Group II The Santinatha Caritra in which the folios measure 26.4 x 11.2 cm., bears a colophon which dates it in Samvat 1453 (= 1396 A.D.) This date however is doubtful, the colophon seems to have been added by a later hand. The format of the manuscript with 13 lines per folio must be of a later date as has been established by Prof. Norman Brown, though his theory requires certain revision. Even the style of the miniatures seems to be of a later date though it has preserved certain archaic features of the fourteenth century illustrated manuscripts. It is possible that somebody has copied the colophon of the earlier manuscript. It is evident from the style that the manuscript must have been prepared by the middle of the fifteenth century. Like other manuscripts of the period there is hardly any distinguishing point in the illustrations of the Santinatha Caritra. The background is invariably red and the themes are usually confined to the dreams of the mother of santinatha, to an assembly of a Jaina ucarya and his congregation, the plucking of the hair, Varsikidana (Fig. 6) Samavasarana, etc. It may be noted that in this manuscript the flesh colour is indicated by shades of yellow and the draughtsmanship is not steady as in the 1346 manuscript of the Kalpa-sutra. It looses its steadiness and has degenerated into a folk variety. The gold is conspicuous by its absence; it is only used for representing certain details of the ornaments. However shades of blue, both ultramine and indigo, are used. The composition follows the stereotyped Jaina technique, though there are certain innovations; for instance, the treatment of the cloud becomes more variegated and the stylised tree makes its rare appearance. However in certain scenes, for instance in the dream of Santinatha's mother, the dainty figures of the mother and her attendant are not of the later variety but seem to have been adopted from their fourteenth century prototypes. The Kalpa-sutra dated V. S. 1547 (=1490 A.D.), copied at Vadnagar, seems to have less artistic merit and may be relegated to the general run of the Kalpa-sutra manuscripts which were mass produced for presentation to the Jaina monks by the laity. In this manuscript gold and blue have been used profusely (Colour plate II, Fig. III) but the drawing seems to be stereotyped and the treatment of human figures indifferent. The colours have also lost their pristine glory. Since we have not been able to examine all the paintings of this manuscript while noting down these observations, our conclusions may be treated as tentative.

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362 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME However it is interesting to note that this manuscript was commissioned by a Nagara Brahmana of Vadnagar, and copied by one Vachhaka of Patan. That shows the absence of religious animosity between the two great communities. Following the chronological order may be mentioned the illustrated manuscript of the Uttaradhyayana-sutra dated V. S. 1549 (= 1492 A. D.) painted at Patan. Illustrations of this Uttaradhyayana-sutra (Figs. 8-9) show some understanding of the decorative elements in painting. Though the illustrations follow the stereotyped theme of the other illustrated Uttaradhyayana-sutras yet the composition becomes more elaborate and the painter delights in giving us details. The background is red as usual; yellow is generally used for body colour and though the gold is almost absent in the delineation of certain details, in the representation of the garments of the Jaina acaryas, mica is used. The composition is no longer confined to two or three figures alone but at least in one painting an elaborate composition is attempted. There a lady is shown paying her respects to a Jaina monk inside a temple whose details are represented. This temple is situated in a garden with a bird and an antelope, a tree and shrubs, and a rivulet flowing in the background. Three men in the garden complete the picture. It is interesting to note that here we are not concerned with the hieratic themes of the Kalpa-sutras but are introduced to new elements which are pleasing. One may point out here that in this period, as indicated by certain patas (cloth paintings, both secular and religious), the painters were freeing themselves from the rigidity of the earlier school and trying to enlarge their composition which now becomes more convincing. As a matter of fact, in this period, as shown by the Vasanta-Vilasa scrollmanuscript, there is an attempt to free the figures from rigidity of movement and there is a greater appreciation of the landscape. To the same period (but somewhat earlier in age than the Uttaradhyayana-sutra just discussed) may also be dated an illustrated page from the Satrunjaya-Mahatmya (Colour plate I, Fig. II). Though the number of figures is limited in the composition, the dainty figures of the women and the restrained movement of Bharata brings forth subtly the idea behind the composition. To relieve the monotony of the red background, the painter has introduced the variegated male and female costumes, flowers and a strip of blue clouds edged with white. The Satrunjaya Mahatmya, according to Muni Sri Punyavijayaji, should be assigned to a period between V. S. 1450 and V. S. 1475, or c. 1420 A.D

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 363 Next in order comes the illustrated manuscript of MadhavanalaKamakandala-Katha, dated V. S. 1550 (= 1493 A.D.), and painted at Patan. There is no doubt that the new outlook in painting which was established by the Vasanta-Vilasa (and other paintings) continued to flourish and extended its scope to secular subjects like the present one. The story of Madhavanala and Kamakandala though known to have been popular in the seventeenth century Popular Mughal School (Fig. 37) and in Pahari paintings is now for the first time found illustrated at such an early period. However, it must be noted that this new mode of expression belongs to the folk style. Every attempt was made to simplify the composition and colours. Every attempt was made to focus the attention on the story (Figs. 10 and 11). However, though the composition is simplified the movement becomes the keynote of the style. Here we do not find the rigidity of the usual Jaina composition but joie de vivre of the folk style which delights in a convincing way. In keeping with the fifteenth century cliche the background is red or white, the body colour yellow, the farther eye extended, and certain limbs of the body exaggerated. However in the fighting scenes, the court scene with the musicians, and in the scene of Madhava with other girls in order to divert his mind from Kamakandala, one finds that though the style is simple yet it is perfectly capable of telling the story in a convincing way. In such a simple composition the landscape hardly finds any place. The clouds or the room decorations are introduced to relieve the monotony of the monochrome background. To the same period, approximately 1450 A. D. or a little earlier, belong the illustrated folios of a manuscript of the Damayanti-kathi Campu composed by Trivikrama. Unfortunately the illustrations (Fig. 7) are in a bad condition, but whatever has survived shows that the painter was a master draughtsman who could manipulate his line not only to define convincingly the body contour but also to represent the details of the costume and the way garments were worn. Naturally in keeping with the traditions of the age, the composition is divided into panels, red is used as a background colour and the carnation is yellow. The illustration forms an important example of the new movement which had started by the middle of the fifteenth century in Gujarat. In this group may be mentioned the illustrated manuscript of Candraprabhacaritra painted in V. S. 1555 (= 1498 A. D.) at Patan. Here it may be seen how even a hieratic subject, conservative by nature, was affected by the new movement. In the scene depicting the elaborate

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364 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME ly decorated marriage-pavilion (Colour plate II, Fig. IV), the carefully drawn figure of Candraprabha with his white carnation and the coy figure of the bride, the Brahmanas and others witnessing the scene are well rendered. In order to relieve the monotony of monochrome background the painter has painted plaintain and other decorative trees and the peacocks perched on the terrace. A panel of faces appears in the background. Here as well in the white of Candraprabha's carnation and in the dhotis of the Brahmanas mica is used. The momentous discovery, from Jamnagar, of a richly illustrated copy of Kalpa-sutra and Kalaka-Katha dated Samvat 1558 (= 1501 A. D.) and painted at Sri-Pattana (Patan) shows that the Jaina patrons spared no money and effort to make some illustrated copies of the Kalpa-sutra as a pious act of dedication. The Devasano Pado's manuscript of the Kalpa-sutra and Kalaka-katha for the first time brought to our notice by Prof. W. Norman Brown, showed that Jaina painting did not confine to only stereotyped themes followed blindly but could also take recourse to other aids such as rich border decoration to add to the sumptuousness of the book-illumination. The painter of Devasano Pado manuscript did not fight shy of drawing material for his decoration not only from the decorative motifs of the Hindu temples consisting of the Apsarasas, Gandharvas, flowers and trees, armies on the march, but also from the carpets and textiles of Persian origin. As a matter of fact in border decorations, the painters of the Devsano Pado Kalpa-sutra introduced contemporary soldiers engaged in fighting, marching and enjoying other aspects of life, birds and animals, their hunters and landscape. The compositions of the Devasano Pado which at time are full-page illustrations also show that the painter was in a position to paint elaborate themes and use such costly colours as gold, ultramarine and carmine without any care for their cost. However though the date of the Devasano Pado Kalpa-sutra Kalaka-katha could be suggested as 1475 A.D. there are scholars who have suggested a much later date. Prof. Norman Brown suggested the date in the Akbar period. It may be noted here that in one of the decorations, a Muslim soldier is shown with a hand-gun. This, we may incidentally note, need not prevent us from assigning this manuscript to c. 1475 A. D. The Kalaka-katha attached to the Jamnagar Kalpasutra painted at Patan also contains a figure holding a gun. The Jamnagar manuscript not only uses the decorative motifs of the Devasano Pado Kalpa-Sutra but also other patterns and motifs which we come across in Western Indian art for the first time. A few pages

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 365 from this Kalpa-sutra and Kalaka-katha are illustrated here in figs. 12-13 just to give the reader some idea about this richly decorated manuscript. The majority of the pages have patterns drawn from textiles and calico printing, and geometrical figures and birds play an important part in the decoration. However a constant source of inspiration to the artist seems to have been contemporary sculpture and wood work from Gujarat. From this source they have drawn the figures of dancers and musicians in countless different poses, Kinnaras, Apsarasas, gods and goddesses, processions, hunting scenes, birds and animals, rocks and monkeys, and the landscapes from another important item in the decorations. It also seems that in the decoration there appear scenes from some Jaina stories probably contained in some commentaries of the Kalpa-sutra. Another important inspiration in decoration is from Muslim sources. It may be averred here that the painter did not find his inspiration from Persian sources directly but from the contemporary Muslim culture in Gujarat and he did not hesitate to draw upon this source. In keeping with the Devasano Pado manuscript the Jamnagar manuscript originally painted at Patan has also taken recourse to elaborate compositions. The decoration sometimes is stretched to such a point that the compositions loose their coherence. However, it may be noted that so far as the Kalaka-katha is concerned the themes treated are of much greater elaboration and originality than known hitherto, the material is so profuse that one wonders whether an indigenous school synthesising the Persian and Indian elements had not come into being at least 100 years before the Mughal school. It is a bold statement to make and the opinions may perhaps sharply differ but in the face of overwhelming evidence nothing else could be said. Groups III-IV In 1526, an event of great magnitude took place. Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodi on the battlefield of Panipat and thus began a new chapter in the history of India. Inspite of the vagaries of fortune which caused Humiyun, the son and successor of Babar, to lose his throne to Sher Shah, he was able to regain it after sometime. He had however very little time to consolidate his gains. It was left to his great son Akbar not only to consolidate and unite India, administer it wisely, but also to interpret and synthesise its great culture for the benefit of posterity. Among the most significant contributions which he made may be

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366 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME mentioned his foundation of the Mughal school of painting. From the very beginning, he was struck with the possibilities of the Indian Painting as it existed in his days but he also knew that if Indian painting was to part in the composite culture which he was building up, it must be given a fresh orientation. And this could only be done if the best from Indian and Persian cultures were to be synthesised. For that purpose he invited artists from Persia and employed a large number of artists hailing from Gujarat, Kashmir and Delhi-Agra region to establish on a sound footing a national school of painting. And there is no doubt that he was successful in his attempt. Not only were manuscripts illustrated in the Imperial ateliers under the direct supervision of the Emperor, but these ateliers trained a large number of painters in the new techniques. Naturally all of these painters could not be employed in the Imperial ateliers. They had to seek their livelihood away from the capital. This migration of the painters must have started at an early date. So far as Gujarat is concerned, it seems to have taken place in the last quarter of the 16th century. However we must note one factor here. Gujarat was the land of conservatism in the field of painting. There were painters who were carrying on somewhat mechanically the formula handed down for generations. And it was no easy matter to divert them from the sacred path of tradition. The difficulty of the new movement must have been further enhanced by the conservative tendency of the patrons who were used to a particular kind of painting. However, from the available evidence it is clear that slowly but steadily Mughal technique began gaining an upper hand in Gujarat. But to do so it had to effect compromises with the firmly rooted indigenous traditions. Apparently the painters from Gujarat and Malwa and probably other parts of India accepted certain elements in figure drawing costume, etc. preferring the monochrome background and enamel-like colours for a long time. But as time advanced they began also adopting certain elements of Mughal landscape as well. But it must be acknowledged that the Mughal School could not completely change the phase of indigenous painting. The compromise effected between the two gave birth to a new mode of expression which we call the Rajasthani School. The term Rajasthani however is adopted for the sake of convenience since most of the early examples came from Rajasthan but now it has been accepted that the term is of a loose significance and not only used for paintings of Rajasthan origin but also for the paintings of Gujarat, Malwa, Uttara Pradesh, Bundelkhand etc.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 367 In the Mughal period again painting outside the Imperial court took two directions. In the one case, painting developed what is called the Popular Mughal School for the sake of convenience, in which the Mughal elements are simplified to a certain extent while in the second category, to which most of our illustrated manuscripts belong, was created a Folk variety of where the illustrations were cheap and therefore catered to an ever growing clientele. Here naturally the technique had to be very much simplified and the composition gave only the barest elements of the story. The Jaina Bhandaras have yielded some very interesting material of both the varieties. The earliest dated manuscript which shows an improvement in the indigenous technique under the Mughal influence is that of the Sangrahani-sutra painted at Matar in Gujarat in 1583 A.D.13 A casual look at the illustrations will convince one that in the matter of costume and in certain elements of composition including the treatment of the animal figures and trees Mughal influence is palpable. However in the use of the monochrome background in which the red, blue and carmine preponderate, in the yellow carnation, in the thickly set features of the women and men, and in the use of Mudras, the ancient indigenous tradition predominates. One thing however may be noted that in the placement of the figures those which were in parallel rows in the earlier paintings are now recesssed which gives an elementary idea of perspective. This might have been due to the Mughal influence. Naturally in keeping with the subject matter of the Samgrahani-sutra the paintings merely consist of one to four or five figures. But in some of the paintings may be seen attempts to evolve conventions which played an important part in the Rajasthan paintings. For instance in one painting which depicts the bed-room of a god with attendant figures of women a prototype has been evolved which played a significant part in the future development of Rajasthan painting. In the same way the treatment of the Tree of Lesyas (Colour plate IV, Fig. VI) shows an advance in composition and in the placements of figures engaged in different acts. All this could not have been imagined without the new knowledge. But in the treatment of the dancers and musicians arranged in a single row the older tradition makes itself felt. The chief interest however of the paintings is the treatment of the trees and animals and birds which though treated singly show a new approach which combines realistic and decorative elements. The water 19 Anand Krishna, op. cit. Marg, Vol. XI, No. 2, pp. 18-21.

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368 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME is treated in a basket pattern, the hills consist of thick zig-zag sectors, painted white, black, blue and carmine. However while the Matar-Manuscript shows how painting in Gujarat was reacting to the new conditions, a painting from another copy of the Samgrahana-sutra dated in 1587 A. D., painted at Cambay (fig. 20), shows that conservatism was still able to preserve its hold. The women in this painting are directly descended from the earlier prototypes with yellow carnation wearing the typically Indian costume with pompoms attached20 to the ornaments, the room where they sit has a red background and decorative hangings. Above all the angularity of the draughtsmanship shows the strangle-hold of the tradition. That the tradition was not different in the painting of the Samgrahana-sutra is evident from illustrations of a Sangrahani-sutra dated 1650 A. D. and painted at Navharnagar identified with Navghar in Bikaner State. Here the paintings verge on the folk style. The elaborateness and careful finish of the Matar manuscript is no longer there. In the hill scenes depicted in this manuscript only the primary colours are used and even the background has been eliminated. There is another manuscript of Samgrahana (undated) in which the Mughal influence, so far as figures are concerned, is very apparent. The composition however is again confined to single figures appearing in compartments with red background. The water is represented by a basket pattern and the hill by a pile of meandering lines shaded with white and pink (Fig. 32). Its provenance may be Gujarat. Such manuscripts of the Sangrahana-sutra show that there was a good demand for them, as the scenes of gods and goddesses, hells and punishment, charts of dvipas etc. were of great popular interest. While the illustrated manuscripts of the Sangrahani-sutra, following the Matar Samgrahani in the treatment of themes, became very popular, the illustrated manuscripts of the Uttaradhyayana in the new style are not so common. A manuscript of Uttaradhyayana-sutra from Anjar in Kaccha is therefore of special interest (Figs. 21-23). A significant point about the manuscript is that almost all the figures, human as well as animal, are painted in burnished gold. The background is usually ultramarine relieved by patches of red, against which the figure drawing is done. The ultramarine ground.is covered with 20 Use of Pompons started earlier though it was occasional.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 369 flowers. The draughtsmanship, though angular, is very restrained. The face is generally in three-fourths profile though the farther cheek is very much pinched. The female figures, though not many in number, remind us of the early Bundi type. But they seem to represent the contemporary local types. Though the use of gold is not conducive to sobriety yet it gives a very picturesque effect to the composition. Obviously this satisfied the rich donor of this manuscript. Though the manuscript is not dated, it could be dated c. 1600 A.D. because the costume and the format are typically of the Akbar period. In the seventeenth century when the Mughal technique had established itself, Rajasthani styles in various forms and varieties came into existence in different parts of North India. These new styles whether based on the popular Mughal style or in the indigenous tradition influenced by Mughal style are replete with the joy of new discovery. We know that in this period Sanskrit classics like the Gitagovinda, 21 Amarusataka22 and the Rasamanjari23 were being illustrated but so far illustrated manuscripts of Kalidasa's works were not available. Though works on poetry were being copied and illustrated in Gujarat, Marwar and Malwa, U. P. also seemed to have become an equally important centre. An illustrated manuscript of the Kumarasambhava, unfortunately incomplete, was painted at Nautanpur (which should be somewhere in Western U.P.), in the year V. S. 1701 = 1644 A.D., written by a Jaina which shows that the Jainas of the period illustrated their books in what is known as Popular Mughal style which is a very happy combination of indigenous and Mughal traditions24. The background is saffron, green, pink and red. In three paintings at least this background is relieved by an introduction of picturesque landscapes consisting of decorative flowering trees, birds, variegated hill, and in one case a river in the foreground. In two paintings, however, following the older tradi 21 Khandalavala, Karl, A Gita-Govinda series in Prince of Wales Museum, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, No. 4, pp. 1-18, and plates. 22 Moti Chandra, An illustrated set of the Amarusataka, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, No. 2, 1951-52, pp. 1-63 and plates. 23 Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, The Rasamanjari paintings in Basohli school, Lalit-kala, No. 3, pp. 26-38 and plates. 24 For a late illustrated manuscript of Sakuntala see, Adris Banerjee An Illustrated Hindi Manuscript of Sakuntala dated 1789 A. D., Lalit-kala, Nos. 1-2, pp. 46-55 and plates. GJ.V. 24

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370: SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME tion, the background is plain. Both the male and female types confirm to the Popular Mughal type. The figures are carefully drawn and the women usually wear transparent cadars, and colis, coloured skirts and ornaments. The sky is always painted as cloudy. The combination of the subtle colour scheme, the landscape, and the dainty female figures bring out the spirit of the Kumarasambhava (Fig. 25).25 Another manuscript of Kumarasambhava, preserved in the National Museum, New Delhi, is dated in V. S. 1732=1675 A.D. The illustrated copy of the Meghaduta painted in 1669 A.D. at Asanikotta which could be identified with Asani near Jaunpur is another interesting document which shows that the so-called Rajasthani style had travelled as far as Jaunpur in eastern U. P. in the seventeenth century A.D. Historically speaking Jaunpur seems to have been an important centre of painting as exemplified by the Kalpa-sutra dated 1465 A. D. from the Hamsavijaya collection. But it is not known how in the course of two centuries painting in Jaunpur developed. From this manuscript however it is evident that Jaunpur must have been a strong centre of painting at least in the 15th to 17th century. It is interesting to note that the Meghaduta miniatures are not in the Popular Mughal style but in a very picturesque local style. The composition is either divided into panels or represented as a unified composition. The background is usually red with patches of yellow in one case. Both male and female figures are rather short and shown as pink in complexion. Women wear the typically Rajput female costume, which is trimmed with pearls. The painter has shown a real feeling for landscape. In one case a peacock is shown cawing on a tree, in a second place the Yaksa seated in a mountainous landscape under a tree is offering flowers to the clouds, in a third place in a garden of Alaka the Yaksi is playing music and in another place a monkey is shown climbing a tree. As a matter of fact a very happy combination of colours, landscape and draughtsmanship bring out the lyrical spirit of the Meghaduta. 25 Compare, Khandalavala and Moti Chandra, Collection of Sir Cowasji Jehangir-Miniatures and Sculptures (Bombay, 1965), p. 17 and colour plate illustrating a folio from the Gita-Govinda in Popular Mughal Style. Also see, Khandalavala, Moti Chandra and Pramod Chandra, Miniatuse Paintings from Shri Motichand Khajanchi Collections, pp. 26-29 and figs. 22-25; colour pl. B and frontispiece. :

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 371 The story of Naladavadanti had also become very popular in the seventeenth century and there are at least two sets known in the Popular Mughal style, probably from Gujarat. One of these is in the collections of Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay (Fig. 36) and dates from about c. 17th Century A.D. while the other is in collections of Muni Sri Punyavijayaji (Figs. 38-39), written on thick brittle paper. In the painting where Nala as a Kubja (hunch dwarf) is driving the chariot of Rituparna to Kundinapura to attend the pretended Svayamvara of Damayanti. The landscape is represented by a couple of trees painted in Mughal style with a plain light blue background. That this Popular Mughal style was not confined only to U. P. but was also followed by a section of artists in Gujarat and Rajasthan and Malwa is apparent from the picture in which the chariot and the trees are depicted in Mughal style. The monochrome background however shows that it belongs to the Popular Mughal style. Male costumes show cakadar jama and the figures imitate the work of salivahana, who is known to have painted a Vijnaptipatra for the Jainas26. A page from Ktisnaveli shows that at times in Rajasthan, Marwar, and also Gujarat even in about 1650 A. D. the liveliness of the early paintings in colours, landscape and draughtsmanship is preserved (compare fig. 29). An appropriate background is provided for Ksisna's dance by conventional trees and animals and the lotus flowers growing in the Jamuna in the foreground. Another manuscript datable to the first half of the seventeenth century done in the new style influenced by the Mughal school is the illustrated manuscript of the Jambu dripaprajnapti-prameya-ratnamanjusa-tika dated about 1604 A. D. The background is generally blue and red and the action takes place on the same plane. However the earlier simplicity gives place to a more complicated composition in which sometimes the predetermined places of the characters import an idea of simple perspective to the painting (Colour plate VI, Fig.X). However in the miniature depicting the of meeting two Jaina monks, the composition follows an older convention. The use of mica is noteworthy. Groups V-VII In the seventeenth century the Rasas containing different Jaina stories became popular. The illustrations are generally of folk variety mimi 26 Pramod Chandra, Ustad salivahana and the Development of Popular Mughal Art, Lalit-kala, No. 8, pp. 25 ff., and colour plate A.

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372 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME with the result that only a few figures painted against the background indicate the stories. There are three manuscripts of Candarasa, one painted in 1712 V.S. ( = 1655 A.D.) at Vyaghrasenapura, another painted in V. S. 1716 ( = 1659 A.D.) at Surat and a third painted in Poona in 1812 A.D. The Candarasa or Sri Candarasa painted at Surat however is of greater interest as the figures are more carefully painted and the action as shown in the battle scene is vigorous. Most of these pictures bear labels which inform us about the incidents. The monotony of the usually red background is enlivened by the introduction of the flowering plants. The importance of this Surat manuscript lies in the fact that it shows the datable evidence of Gujarati (probably) Folk-style of the seventeenth century. Another complete manuscript of this style, this time the Hindu Durga-sapta-sati, painted at Surat in V. S. 1776 (= 1719 A. D.) is preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay (Fig. 28): In the second half of the seventeenth century Marwar and its contiguous area consisting of the former states of Sirohi, Jodhpur and Bikaner developed their individual modes of expression. All kinds of subjects, including the Ragini paintings, Durgamahatmya and Jaina manuscripts, were being painted. From the available evidence it is evident that the former state of Sirohi was also an important centre of painting. At least the Vijnaptipatra of 1737 A.D. from the Khajanchi collection (Fig. 27) is a sort of a sheet anchor for suggesting the provenance of a group of paintings to which may be added the illustrations from a manuscript of Durgamahatmya in the collections of the Prince of Wales Museum and a set of Ragina paintings distributed in the various collections including the Prince of Wales Museum (compare for example the Vibhasa Ragini of c. middle of eighteenth century in the Prince of Wales Museum, No. 57.1627). Though again it is difficult to be sure whether these paintings are from Sirohi or south-west Marwar, the finest illustrated manuscript in the Sirohi-Marwar style is the manuscript of Upadesamala Balavabodha from Devsano Pado dated in V. S. 1765 (=1708 A.D.). The paintings, though of a small format, try to illustrate some 27 Also see Lee, Sherman E., Rajput Painting (New York, 1960), pl. 22, illustrating a scene from Pancakhyana (wrongly labelled as marriage procession but depicting a scene of festivity on the river bank and referring to a story of a Kolika getting enamoured of a princess). This painting shows much affinity with the Sirohi School.

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NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 373 central points of each story. But one must know the story fully before identifying the incidents. In some stories the painter has followed the text almost in a short hand manner combining one or two or even three incidents of a story without following any order. Ordinarily the paintings are divided into panels with monochrome background in which the colour patches are used, or the pictures are composed without any decision (Figs. 24-26). The colours are enamel-like : red, lacquer red, deep blues, yellows, carmine, brown, etc. are used with a grand effect. The figures are generally short in stature but the features both of male and female are well rendered. The eyes are large and pointed and the nose is sharp (Coulur plate V, Fig. VIII). There is nothing unusual in the costume which is of the early eighteenth century Rajasthani type except that the turbans are definitely of the Jodhpur type (figs. 25-26). Though in most of the paintings landscape hardly plays any part in some of these the painter has shown a real understanding of the landscape (Colour plate VI, Fig. IX). The trees with a very thick foliage show a pleasing realism. The water is treated in a naturalistic manner and the treatment of the hills in mass recalls later Mughal tradition. The animals are represented mostly in a realistic manner. Independent landscapes are rather rare in Rajasthani painting but in one folio at least landscape without human figures is represented. As a matter of fact it is marvellous that within a very restricted space the painter is able not only to give a convincing landscape without any human figures or even with human characters. Another distinguishing feature of the miniatures is that while most of the Rajasthani paintings are static the Upadesamala characters are animated with a spirit of action which is the keynote of the stories. We have illustrated here two more manuscripts, one of HaribalaCaupai (dated in V. S. 1744 = 1687 A. D.) (Fig. 35), painted in Dhar in Malwa and the other of Sri-Cand-rajano-Rasa (dated in 1812 A. D.) painted in Poona (Fig. 40) as dated evidence of painting in the above regions. They also show the continuity of art traditions in these regions in the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries.