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major Tirthas viz. Abu, Girnar, Ashtapad, Sametshikhar and Shatrunjay. The follower must offer his prayers every day before the pictorial representations of these major Tirthas. The ancient examples of the Panchtirtha pats are painted in the traditional Jain style.
In the later period, the Tirtha pats become more or less deftly drawn maps interspersed with a number of captions here and there. The Tirtha pats done during the last century go a step further in that some of them are done keeping in view two or three dimensional perspective. The pats of this kind are carved in wood or stone at present. We have quite a few pats done with the help of small and thin pieces of stone or coloured glasses. Some of them depict more than the five major Tirthas. The Tirtha pats painted in 1641 in Ahmedabad are highly valuable not simply from the point of view of religion but also from the point of view of art in general. For, they are among the best examples of Jain art of the 17th century. At Shatrunjay, we have a number of pats of various sizes and done in various mediums. These pats depict revulets, hills, rivers and temples with their typical flags flapping on high masts at the top of their high domes, small temples, houses, way-side inns for the travellers, trees, small tanks with steps circling all around them, Jain monks and nuns, Jain devotees, animals and birds that one comes across or sees in the course of his or her pilgrimage to Shatrunjay Tirtha. These depictions are of high artistic merits as they are done in with delicate line work and in many colours and are highly decorative in style.
The last or the fourth type of pats include the following:
1. Vignapti patra pats or the pats prepared with a specific purpose of inviting some Jain Muni or Acharya to come to spend chaturmas. 2. Kshamapana Patrika - a letter expressing an earnest desire to be forgiven or pardoned. 3. Chitra Kavya pat 4. Gnanbaji or Sapsidi pat 5. Horoscopes of individuals 6. Pats depicting other themes. 7. Pat depicting the records of the names of the pilgrims and other information regarding their families. These records were maintained by a special kind of professionals known as vahivanchas. Vahi is a record book. These pats depict the geneologies of Jain families.
Vignapti patra pats are generally very long but not very broad. They are first prepared on separate pieces of paper and then pasted on a narrow length of cloth. They would include poet's descriptions of beautiful sights worthy of being seen by visitors. They are done in a set traditional style by local artists.
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Jain Kashthapar Chitra : 29
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