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Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
these characteristics are lost under the Mughal influence and Western Indian School merges in the general trend of Indian art.
Before the advent of paper in India, palm-leaf and birch bark (bhurjapatra) were extensively used as writing materials. In the palm-leaf Jaina manuscripts, the leaves were divided into two or three panels for writing, the division depending on the size of the leaves (Pl. 242). On both the sides of the panels, generally one and half inch margins were left and in the central margin a button was strung on a string, which was passed through all manuscripts and kept the leaves in position. In some manuscripts, either of these two systems of pagination was adopted. Sometimes the palm-leaf manuscript was tied with thread passing through three holes (one in the centre and two in two margins on the sides) and a wooden board cut to size was placed on top and underneath; the thread passed through holes bored also into these wooden boards (Pls. 243-44). In several instances, the place of pagination and the central marginal hole for string was stopped with cinnabar, the leaves were divided into two or three panels with margins separating each panel. The margins in order to break monotony of blankness were framed with decorative designs such as friezes of elephants or swans and various floral motifs. In some manuscripts, the end of the chapters was decorated with rosettes, lotus kalaśas and other symbols and motifs. If the manuscripts were to be illustrated, after the work of scriber was over, the panels were left on different leaves, and were handed over to the artists to complete their work. The rich and costly effect was enhanced by a lavish use of gold and ultramarine, and by writing the text in silver ink on a black or red background, or even in gold on a red ground.
The illustrated palm-leaf Jaina manuscripts may be divided into two groups on stylistic grounds. The first group comprises of the manuscripts executed between A.D. 1060 to roughly A.D. 1350, while the second group comprises of the manuscripts illustrated
between A.D. 1350 to A.D. 1400 or A.D. 1450 when paper practically displaced the palm-leaf. The texts of these manuscripts were written in a variant of the nägarī script (This writing diverges from the regular script in its appearance as well as in the special forms employed for certain letters).
The beginning of the Jaina miniature painting survives in the form of illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts and wooden book-covers belonging to the 11th-12h century A.D. These early documents represent a widespread tradition of Jaina painting of coherent and cogent expression and register various phases of its development.
Of the palm-leaf manuscripts executed during A.D. 1050 to A.D. 1350, only a few are illustrated. These illustrated manuscripts are the copies of canonical texts and contain only a few miniatures. The illustrations occur in the introductory or the concluding folios of the manuscripts. The miniatures in the shape of squarish panels are usually placed in the centre of the main column, and occasionally in case of long folios they appear in the side columns as well (Pl. 242).
The compositions in the illustrated manuscripts are simple, set on a brick or purplish red or blue background. Yellow, white and green complete the palette. The line is strong, even coarse, and energy and movement are conveyed by the stance of the figures and the disposition of the draperies. By the end of the 13th century A.D. the general stylistic conventions were more or less settled which continued in the subsequent centuries. The line becomes thin and wiry, absolutely certain within the range of expressiveness it sets for itself. The figures are seen either full-face or in almost full profile, the farther eye being allowed to project right beyond the cheek. Architectural and rudimentary landscape backgrounds make their appearance. The introduction of paper allowed a larger field for painting and more ambitious compositions, and the miniatures began to be framed in rich illumination.
The earliest dated illustrated manuscript of the
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