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Typology of Jain Manuscripts
characteristics that make it out as Jaina Nagri." It has special forms of certain letters and diphthongal signs before the letters e or o. This early scripts is identified as Padi-matras in local Jain terminology. This elegant and monumental script remained characteristic of the Svetambara Jains until the 18th century.
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In the early phase of the palm-leaf Mss. text dominated the space, which ran across into five or six lines. Sometimes a long palm-leaf was divided by two verticle spaces marked by a red dot known as chandraka in the centre used also for string holes. In case of painted folios, the illustrations appeared two or three times in rectangles in between the text and the string holes.
On the basis of the text pattern written or drawn on the folios of Mss. a detailed classification has been done by late Muni Sri Punyavijayji and the samples have been presented to the L.D. Institute of Indology at Ahmedabad which are being illustrated here in the form of slides in chronological sequence.
When paper came to be used for manuscripts the smaller narrow format of the palm-leaf was discontinued, the size of the letters also became big and the paintings and other marginal decoration gained importance. In the history of miniature paintings of the world, the early Jain manuscript illustrations claim a unique position. After the 14th cent. a number of rich and opulant manuscripts illustrating the sacred books like the Kalpasutra and the Kalakacharya Katha were commissioned by wealthy merchant community. Pro
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