Jaina Art and Architecture Vol 03

Author(s): A Ghosh
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 43

CHARTER 31]
MINIATURE PAINTINGS
with that prevailing in Gujarat, which would indicate that the same styles prevailed in the northern and western regions during the fourteenth century. However, hieratic poses and the limited number of illustrations show that the idiom in this manuscript was still very closely linked with the styles seen in palm-leaf manuscripts.
Another manuscript on paper which was in the possession of Muni Jinavijayaji bears a colophon stating that it was written in Vikrama-sarhvat 1424 (A.D. 1367) and was presented by one Deheda to Sanghatilaka-Sari in Vikramasarhvat 1427 (A.D. 1370) (plate 275A). It is 7-5 cm. in width and has seven lines to a page. The paintings which total only eight in number cover 7.5 x 5 cm. Muni Jinavijayaji regarded it as the earliest-known illustrated Jaina manuscript on paper. The present author saw it many years ago and it being no longer available for further examination, no more can be done than to state the facts noted then. It is possible, however, that the date is correct. The workmanship is not of a high order, but that may be due to the fact that the painter was one of mediocre ability. Even amongst the palm-leaf illustrations the quality varies a great deal. However, it is not without significance that there are only eight miniatures in the manuscript, whereas in the later paper manuscripts the number of illustrations is considerably increased.
In the collection of the L.D. Institute of Indology at Ahmedabad is a Santinatha-carita' which bears the date 1453 (A.D. 1396). But the colophon appears to be a later addition and on stylistic grounds it is not possible to date it earlier than the second half of the fifteenth century.
One of the finest early paper manuscripts is the Kalpa-sūtra-Kälakācāryakatha of the Prince of Wales Museum, which, we would venture to suggest, belongs to the last quarter of the fourteenth century. It may be noted that in the Kalakacārya-katha we find that the Sähis who support Kalaka are based on Mongoloid types derived from fourteenth-century Persian paintings. The reason for this is that the Sähis were foreigners and the Mongoloid types in Persian paintings were regarded as eminently suitable for depicting those Sähis. To the same period we may ascribe an undated Kalpa-sutra-Kalakācārya-katha of the Bhandara at Jaisalmer for which Sarabhai Nawab suggested the early fifteenth century. The illustrations are of small size, approximately 8 x 8 cm.,
Moti Chandra and Shab, op. cit., pp. 378 ff., fig. 6.
Mou Chandra, 'An illustrated manuscript of the Kalpasūtra and Kalakacharya-katha”, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, 4, 1953-54, pp. 40 ff., plates VII-XIV.
• Sarabhai Nawab, op. cit., figs. 20 to 50, 60, 65, 70, 75, 78, 83 and 86 (in colour).
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