Jain Journal 1992 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 8

Georg Bühler and the Western Discovery of Jain Temple Libraries
Donald Clay Johnson
Vidya Dehejia in a recent essay introducing the work of the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts said that "until recently, the vast majority of India's extraordinary range of manuscripts on palm leaf and paper remained unstudied, unpublished, and uncataloged."1 Her comment raises many questions about the development of libraries and archives in India and overlooks the efforts of many individuals whose dedicated work brought to light the vast resources in numerous libraries in India. One monumental figure in such work was Georg Bühler who lived in India 1862-1881. While in India he, more than any other person, brought to the attention of both Indians and Europeans the nature and extent of Jain temple libraries. This activity led to systematic study of Jainism in the west and documented the significant contribution Jains have made to Indian culture and civilization. Studying Bühler's activities in India reveals much both about contemporary attitudes towards scholarship and libraries as well as emerging knowledge about Jains.
Bühler was not the first European to write about Jain temple libraries. That honor goes to Col. James Tod who in his 1839 Travels in Western India described the Hemacandra Bhaṇḍar at Patan. His fascinating account describes a library of great importance to the world of scholarship.
The collection is the property of the Khartra section, or the orthodox. Though every one, lay or clerical, bearing the name of Khartra, has a property in the library, it is in the strict charges of the Nagar-Seth, and the Panch, while its immediate superintendence is confided to some Yutis spiritually descended from Hemacharya.
1 Vidya Dehejia, "The Future of India's Past: Conservation of Cultural Heritage" in India Briefing, 1990. Boulder: Westview Press, 1990. p. 153.