Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain, Others
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 400

378
Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
were very rare in the earlier manuscripts. The compositions also became more complex. They are no longer confined to iconic representations of divinities. They include descriptive details of landscape or architecture to indicate the locale of the scene that is being depicted. In outdoor scenes the landscape is indicated by hills and trees and in indoors, pavilion is shown with furnishings and objects of everyday use. By the end of the 13th century A.D. the drawing takes a pure linear form and is carefully executed. The paintings show lively figures in small size and minimum use of pigments. The men are idealized, with a large chest and narrow waist, and the women have well rounded breasts, small waists and well curved hips. The figures are seen either in full face or profile, the farther eye projecting beyond the cheek, with pointed noses and small chins. Architecture is very much simplified and landscape finds little space. The art reveals no interest in anatomy but a deep understanding of emotion, and especially the language of gesture movements of the hand, the fingers and stances of the body. There is an extensive use of foliage decoration. Plants are generally treated in a conventional manner, especially the mango and the palm. A number of animals and birds are also represented. The men wear a waist cloth or dhoti reaching down to the ankles, with a short scarf thrown across the shoulders, leaving upper half of the body uncovered; and their headgear shows a kind of cap or mukuta. The women wear long gaily coloured printed scarves over skirts consisting of a wrapped piece of cloth of a different colour. Full blossom and narrow waisted, they wear closely fitting colīs, reaching to just above the navel, and their sleeves cover the arms to the elbow. They are profusely bejewelled with ear- rings, necklaces and bangles, and their long hair is braided and tied with black tassels adorned with jewellery and flowers. Water with wavy lines, clouds with bold curves, richly coloured textiles, furniture like swings, stools and bedsteads with ornate lathe-turned legs are some of the features of these miniatures. The colours
applied in these miniatures are simple like brick red, yellow, blue, green and black.
At the end of 14th century A.D., with the political disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate into smaller Muslim and Hindu kingdoms, the art received great impetus. With the formation of smaller kingdoms-Muslim as well as Hindu- new centres of art were established. Scholars, musicians, artists and architects were extended encouragement by the rulers of these smaller kingdoms. As a result, 15th century A.D. witnessed the efflorescence of regional idioms of artistic expression, new style emerged and existing forms received fresh vitality. In the Hindu kingdom of Gwalior, the Digambara Jainas commissioned copies of their religious texts as well as in states like Gujarat and Delhi, governed by Muslim rulers, the Jaina merchants and bankers considered it expedient to be less overt in their religious expression. They choose to pour their piety and wealth into unobtrusive works or art, commissioning copies of canonical literature. The Svetāmbara Jaina community in Gujarat patronised this art form extensively. Their religious texts, transcribed during the 15th century A.D. in Gujarat, were kept carefully and protected and hence survived.
In A.D. 1350 and 1550, the style of Jaina painting split into two stylistic idioms one of which was localised in Gujarat and Rajasthan and the other in Delhi and Gwalior. In Gujarat and Rajasthan there had been no significant transformations in line, form or colour. Around the middle of the 14th century A.D. the region projected a new awareness of stylistic form in paintings within the framework style of Jaina painting. The line now becomes smooth and flowing, it includes a wide spectrum of colours accentuated by touches of gold and silver. However, no example of painting tradition survives from Delhi before and during the 15th century. A.D. except a Svetāmbara Jaina text of Kālakācāryakatha painted on paper at Delhi in A.D. 1366 and the Adipurāna executed in A.D. 1404 for the Digambara Jainas. The western variant is refined in the execution and the broad
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