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CHAPTER XIV
INTRODUCTION
The Jaina's contribution in the field of Indian miniature painting is very significant. Scholars have used several names for the Jaina painting, such as Jaina Painting, Gujarati Painting, Western Indian Painting and Apabhramśa Painting. But the simple geographical name Jaina Painting is the most convenient one. For the early history of Jaina Painting we have to depend on the wall paintings from Ellora where the earliest Jaina paintings may be seen on the walls of the caves. The Răstrakūta rulers embellished the Jaina cave of Indra Sabhā at Ellora with painted murals. The scenes in the Indra Sabha illustrate the Jaina texts and patterns including floral, animal and bird designs of 9th and 10th century A.D.
The miniature paintings appear to have been practised among the Jainas before the 10 century A.D., although no traces of it have been found prior to the early 11th century A.D. Its existence in the 8th and 9th century A.D. can be inferred from descriptive passages in contemporary literature which furnish valuable insights into the style of painting as well as themes portrayed during that period.
The professional storytellers (mamkhäs), who used to narrate the tales with the help of a pictureboard, may be considered as the earliest reference to paintings. They were popular in Eastern India in the sixth century B.C., the period of Mahāvīra and Buddha.
In the 10th century A.D., the tradition of miniature painting makes its appearance in manuscript illustrations. According to Dr. Saryu Doshi (Masterpieces of Jaina Painting, Marg Publications, 1985), probably the tradition was derived from pata paintings and was not too different from it. This art form manifests itself in the wooden book-covers and palm-leaf manuscripts of the Jainas as well as Buddhists.
The examples of illustrated manuscripts are
encountered from the 11"century A.D. These manuscripts were stored in the precincts of the temples or Jaina Bhandāras (libraries of manuscripts) and protected with care. As a result, a large number of them survived. The credit for preserving the Jaina manuscripts in a large measure, however, goes to Jaina Sarngha, individual Jaina monks, bankers and merchants at various places in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka etc.
The Jaina tradition of manuscript painting widely spread in Western India. It had numerous religious establishments in Gujarat and Rajasthan where manuscripts could be copied and illustrated, Gujarat was perhaps the most important centre for illustrated manuscripts with the centres like Patan, Ahmedabad, Vadnagar, Champanera etc. So far as Jaina manuscripts are concerned, Mändu in Malwa was another big Jaina centre in the medieval period. The Jainas produced some remarkable documents in the 11th and 124 century A.D. They have an unbroken tradition of painting from A.D. 1050 to A.D. 1750. It continued thereafter but its expression, emptied of content, lacks vivacity.
The distinguishing features of the Jaina painting are its linear energy and taut angular outlines of the face. In the earlier paintings, reflections in line and washes of colour along with outlines suggested plasticity. Gradually, these became mere conventions, used without understanding, and then they disappear altogether. The quite insistence on a cursive line and a limited palette of a few basic colours imparts a flat two-dimensional quality to the latter paintings.
The Jaina painting could be roughly divided into three periods – palm-leaf period, paper period and late period. In the first two periods Jaina painting retains its distinguishing characteristics such as angularity in drawing, protuberance of the farther eyes etc., but in the third period, which begins in the 17th century A.D.,
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