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Importanot of The Jaina Grantha Bhandari,
1207
Maharaja of Bikāner has been also shown in the painting. It is of 971" x 9" size. The other illustrated letter was written in Sarhvat 1798 (1741 A.D.). It is an invitation letter sent to Jina Saubhagya Säri. The letter is 97 ft. in length and 11" in breadth. It is also a good painting.
Besides these two Grantha Bhandārs mentioned above, other Bhandårs of Rajasthan also contain illustrated manuscripts written on paper, maps and other illustrated material on cloth and a few paintings on wooden plates. A brief description of some of them is as follows:
(1) There is a manuscript of Adipurāņa written by Kavi Puspadanta in
the 10th century. This manuscript was copied in the year 1404 A. D. On the 14th folio of this manuscript there is a painting of Marudevī, mother of Lord Risabha Deva, the first Jaina Tirthankar seeing sixteen dreams. The colour is still in good condition and it has becn drawn on pure Indian style. The manuscript is in the Amer Sastra Bhandār, Jaipur.
(2)
The other fully illustrated manuscript written on paper is also Ādipurāņa of Puspadant, an Apabhraíśa poet of the 10th century. The manuscript is preserved in the Šāstra Bhandar of Jaina Terapanthi temple of Jaipur. The most striking aspect of its composition is the enlarged pictorial area which extends horizontally in some cases to cover the entire length of the folio. The Persian convention of vertical penals was not adopted in these paintings. The back ground colour used is a bold lacquer red, and the other colours being confined to white, black, yellow, Jasmine and green.
In the words of Dr. Moti Cand in the treatment of the human figures, the stylistic distortion associated with the Western Indian School is noticeable, yet the movement is more dynamic and vigorous, the lively poses. mudras and general postures all adding to the flow of the narration. The drawing is angular, characterised by arched eye-brows, pointed nose, exaggerrated chest and thin waist, the father eye protudes into space the end of the nearer extending to the ear.
The dresses of both men and women are simple and show a little variation. The women wear Choli, Chequered sari, a skirt and Chaddar. Their ornaments consist of heart shaped tiara, circular earings, torque Churis, sismanya, Chudamani, necklaces and circular tilak on the forehead. Turban, Dupatta, chequered or striped dhori are the dresses of the men.
