Mahavira Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth Part 1

Author(s): Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Mumbai
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 861

362 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME
However it is interesting to note that this manuscript was commissioned by a Nagara Brāhmaṇa of Vadnagar, and copied by one Vächhāka of Patan. That shows the absence of religious animosity between the two great communities.
Following the chronological order may be mentioned the illustrated manuscript of the Uttaradhyayana-sūtra dated V. S. 1549 (= 1492 A.D.) painted at Patan. Illustrations of this Uttarādhyayana-sūtra (Figs. 8-9) show some understanding of the decorative elements in painting. Though the illustrations follow the stereotyped theme of the other illustrated Uttarādhyayana-sūtras yet the composition becomes more elaborate and the painter delights in giving us details. The background is red as usual; yellow is generally used for body colour and though the gold is almost absent in the delineation of certain details, in the representation of the garments of the Jaina ācāryas, mica is used. The composition is no longer confined to two or three figures alone but at least in one painting an elaborate composition is attempted. There a lady is shown paying her respects to a Jaina monk inside a temple whose details are represented. This temple is situated in a garden with a bird and an antelope, a tree and shrubs, and a rivulet flowing in the background. Three men in the garden complete the picture. It is interesting to note that here we are not concerned with the hieratic themes of the Kalpa-sūtras but are introduced to new elements which are pleasing.
One may point out here that in this period, as indicated by certain patas (cloth paintings, both secular and religious), the painters were freeing themselves from the rigidity of the earlier school and trying to enlarge their composition which now becomes more convincing. As a matter of fact, in this period, as shown by the Vasanta-Vilāsa scrollmanuscript, there is an attempt to free the figures from rigidity of movement and there is a greater appreciation of the landscape.
To the same period (but somewhat earlier in age than the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra just discussed) may also be dated an illustrated page from the Satruñjaya-Māhātmya (Colour plate I, Fig. II). Though the number of figures is limited in the composition, the dainty figures of the women and the restrained movement of Bharata brings forth subtly the idea behind the composition. To relieve the monotony of the red background, the painter has introduced the variegated male and female costumes, flowers and a strip of blue clouds edged with white. The Śatruñjaya Māhātmya, according to Muni śri Punyavijayaji, should be assigned to a period between V. S. 1450 and V. S. 1475, or c. 1420 A.D.