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B.1.3.3.1
Jaina Painting Prof. Kamal Giri
Jains contributed very significantly in the field of Indian miniature paintings. The paintings are known by several names such as Jaina Painting, Gujarati Painting, Western Indian Painting and Apabhramśa Painting. 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 Rāştrakūta a rulers embellished the Jaina cave of Indra Sabhā at Ellora with painted murals. The scenes in the Indra Sabha illustrate the Jain texts and patterns including floral, animal and bird designs of 9th and 10th century A.D.
Jains appear to have practiced the miniature paintings before the 10th century, although no traces of it have been found prior to the early 11th century A.D. Its existence in the 8th and 9th centuries 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.
In the 10th century, miniature painting makes their appearance in manuscripts illustrations. Probably the tradition was derived from pața paintings and not too different from it. This art form manifests itself in the wooden book - covers and palm-leaf manuscripts of the Jains as well as Buddhists.
Illustrated manuscripts of Jains are found from the 11th century A.D. These manuscripts
e 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 Sanghas, individual Jaina monks, bankers and merchants at various places in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka etc.
Jain manuscript painting was widely spread in western India. There were a number of religious establishments in Gujarat and Rajasthan where manuscripts could be copied and illustrated. Gujarat was perhaps the most important centre for illustrated manuscripts with centres like Patana, Ahmedabad, Vadnagar, and Champaner etc. Mandu in Malwa was another big Jain centre in the medieval period for Jain manuscripts. Jains produced some remarkable documents in the 11th and 12th centuries. They have an unbroken tradition of
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