Kalpasutra

SR No.: 600010
Original Sutra Author: Bhadrabahuswami
Author: Vinaysagar
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakruti Bharati Sansthan Jaipur
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 458
Language: Hindi
Classification: Manuscript, Canon, Literature, Paryushan, & agam_kalpsutra
File Size: 11 MB

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prescribed religious texts for giving in gift, but Kalpasitra being the life of Mahavira and of the other Jain pontiffs was quite popular for this purpose. Upadeśatarangini mentions that Raja Kumārapāla (1143-74) of Gujarat established 21 Sastra bhandars and presented each of them a copy of Kalpasitra written in gold letters1.
On the basis of medium of illustration, Kalpasitra paintings may be divided into two groupspalm leaf and paper. Before paper, palm leaf was a popular medium for illustrating such religious texts all over India. Some of the Buddhist texts found at Gilgit (Kashmir) were written on palm leaf others on birch bark, wooden covers of these manuscripts are illustrated, similarly Buddhist text were written and illustrated in medieval eastern India namely Bengal, Bihar and Nepal; on palm leaf. A number of them are available to show us the artistic activity of that region.
The earliest known copy of an illustrated Kalpasitra and a version of Kalak Katha is of A. D. 1278 in the Sanghavina Padana Bhandar Patan. It has only two miniatures of two Jain nuns and two śravikas. Another work, a Kalpasutra and Kalaka Katha of 1279 A. D., is in the same collection. All five miniatures of this text are merely iconographical representations of Jain deities, namely Brahmasanti Yaksha and Lakshmi devi. The next in chronological order is Kalpasūtra Kalkacarya Katha in the collection of Ujjamphoi Dharmaśālā, Ahmedabad, which has six miniatures on palm leaf. Narrow folios of this text have four lines of written text divided into two panels and the second part is again separated into two by an almost rectangular panel depicting scenes from Mahavira's life. These illustrations are decorative and are painted on a traditional pattern. Other manuscripts of the same period and style is in the collection of Seth Anandj! Mangalji ni Pedhi, Idar. It has thirty-four paintings illustrating various episodes from the life of Mahavira.
1. Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Painting from Westren India, Ahmedabad 1949. p. 3 For Private & Personal Use Only