Gujarati Painting of 16th 17th Century

Author(s): Lalit Kumar
Publisher: Z_Nirgrantha_1_022701.pdf and Nirgrantha_2_022702.pdf and Nirgrantha_3_022703.pdf

Page 6

Vol. 1-1995
Gujarati Painting of...
97
Caurapancasika females. The males wear the four or six pointed jāma, pyjama, parkā.and turban. Besides, the turban of the Matar Samgrahani of A. D. 1583, there are some other types of turbans of local origin. The spray trees with their overspreading foliage hovering over the horizon is a new development. The method appears very effective for the representation of woods as required by the text. Occasionally, the horizon is treated in semi-circular form (plate 5). Lingering of old conventions in the treatment of the dramatis personae with the exception of the use of the new facial type, the Gita Govinda can be dated C. A. D. 1585. It appears rather justified in comparison with the text dated document, the Uttaradhyayanasutra dated A. D. 1591, discussed below.
The famous painted Uttaradhyayanasútra of A. D. 1591 is another controversial document where scholars have allegedly pointed out the Mughal influence in the gherdār jama36 In fact, there is no Mughal influence on these paintings of the superior idiom of the Neo-Gujarāti Jaina painting style. According to its colophon, the Ms. was copied by the earlier noted Pandita Devavijaya Ganī". Incidentally, this is the third illustrated Ms. discussed here which finds the name of this bibliophile Faina friar. The Ms. has 46 paintings. Out of these four show a mixture of conventional Gujarātī painting style and the inferior idiom of the Neo-Gujarati paintings 38. It appears that the project was assisted by an artist who had not been able to give up his traditional style. Architecture as background is a major element of composition in these paintings. Sometimes compositions are divided into two or more registers: The squat and stripped domes, eaves, merlons, and architraves supported by duck or elephant trunk-shaped struts attached to the pillars are some of the architectural features. The arabesque and lotus chevron are the two major ornamental devices used in the architecture. The clouds are shown in streaks. Curiously enough, the male and female figures are seen in the conventional costumes with the only exception of a gherdār jāma. It can be compared with the Candayāna of Prince of Wales Museum". The four pointed jämä and the turban type of the Matar Sanigralanisutra of A. D. 1583, are conspicuous by their absence. However, a new turban type without a kulah, a ubiquitous feature of later miniatures, make its first appearance in this Ms. Similarly, thick moustaches also become a regular feature of the later paintings. The presence of the Mandu type horse and the nose-stud dot marked on the nose of every figure including the monks suggest Malwa origin of the Uttaradliyayanasātra"!. But for the facial type of the Matar Samgrahani of A. D. 1583, it seems to have been painted in Gujarat, because the superior idiom had already been in vogue in the Matar-Cambay region. It is further corroborated by another unpublished Sarngrahanisūtra of L. D. Institute which shows the Mandu type of horse (Plate 6). The Ms. has no colophon but the short-space: filler inscription reads: "Tarāpura-madliye likhitar". This makes it amply clear that it was copied (and illustrated) ar Tarapur, a town which lies between Matar and Cambay. The style of this Sarirgrahani is not far from the style of the Uttaradhyayanasutra of A. D. 1591 and, therefore, it inay also be assigned to the same date.