Development And Impact Of Jainism In India And Abroad

Author(s): Gunvant Barvalia
Publisher: Arham Spiritual Center

Page 27

Development & Impact of Jainism in India & Abroad
Below are mentioned the names of some Institutes/Universities which have Sanskrit/ Hindustani/ old Gujarati manuscripts in their collection. We can assume that some of them are Jaina manuscripts. One has to search for that more precisely, as catalogues or hand lists are not available and could not be checked directly by us.,
Aberdeen. Aberdeen University.
2.
Brussels. Bibliotheque Royale Albert
3.
Edinburgh. New College
4.
Kathmandu. Durbar Library St. Petersbourg. Bibliothèque Impériale Publique de St. Petersbourg
5.
SOME OF THE IMPORATANT AND RARE MANUSCRIPTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
Palm-leaf manuscripts from Western India are preserved, as is well known, in temple libraries at Jaisalmer, Cambay or Patn. They are very rare outside India. The British Library has 3 unique palm-leaf manuscripts of the Jitakalpa-group (dated V.S. 1258 = 1201 CE) with shelf mark Or. 1385A, 1385B, 1386. A composite palm leaf manuscript of 220 leaves is kept at the University Library of Göttingen, Germany, containing among other things the Vyavaharacurgi. It is not dated. On the other hand, there are about 20 palm leaf manuscripts from Karnatak kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg.
A list of illustrated manuscripts in British Library, British Museum and Victoria Albert Museum in London is mentioned in our Catalogue of the Jain Manuscripts in the British Library Vol. 1 (published by The British Library & The Institute of Jainology London - 2006) on p. 170. There are several manuscripts of the Kalpasutra, the Uttaradhyayanasutra, manuscript covers showing the 14 dreams of a Jina's mother, one victory banner from the 15th century, a Jain game of snakes and ladders, a vijnaptipatra, large painting on cloth of the Ahâîdvipa, a copy of an illustrated Shâlibhadra-caupas, etc.
Several libraries or museums outside India, whether in Europe or in USA, have complete or incomplete illustrated Kalpasutra and Kalakachâryakatha manuscripts, or folios of cosmological works (Sangrahalaya). Besides, European and American museums often have cloth paintings or illustrated manuscripts of various provenances. It is impossible to list them all individually. A lot of them are reproduced and described in catalogues of important exhibitions which took place in the last two decades. They are in particular:
(a) Peaceful Liberators ed. by Pratapaditya Pal, Los Angeles, 1994: one of the first exhibitions which took place in Los Angeles and then in London. Contains several manuscript pages.
18