Mahavira Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth Part 1

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

Page 878

NEW DOCUMENTS OF JAINA PAINTINGS : 379
the centre showing the survival of the palm-leaf tradition in the beginning of the paper manuscript period.
The date given above, in a different handwriting, could be taken as the lower limit if not the original date of this copy. However Moti Chandra assigns it to the late 15th century A. D. Folio 111 B : Samavasarana of śāntinātha.
The Jina in the centre is in light yellowish red, the central fortification of the Samavasarana is in gold. Red background. Size : 6.9 x 10.5 cm.
(Frontispiece) Folio 106 B : Fourteen dreams of the mother of śāntinătha.
This is a very common theme in the Kalpa-sūtra miniatures. The fourteen dreams are shown in the two upper panels.
The lowest panel represents the queen lying on a cushioned bed over which is shown a long bed-spread. This mode of representing the bed-spread, is especially noteworthy. As this characteristic appears in the 1439 Mandu Kalpa-sūtra, also note the pointed sari ends.
The manuscript was very probably painted in Gujarat, at Patan. Size 9 x 11.2 cm. Folio 107 A: The Parents of Sāntinātha.
The mother of Sāntinātha reports her dreams to her husband and the interpretation offered by astrologers.
In the upper panel are shown the king and queen on the cushioned seats, conversing. Red background.
In the lower panel are seated two prognosticators interpreting the dreams. They are represented as bearded Brahmins wearing the sacred thread. The one on the left is writing or drawing up a chart, the other is holding a book. Folio 107 B: Birth of śāntinātha and his first bathing by Gods.
The scene is divided into two panels. The upper panel shows the mother of the Jina on a bed with the child by her side, attended by a maid. The small blue and white end of a canopy is shown in one corner. In the centre is hung a pot of milk or curds which indicates some contemporary custom of the labour-room.
The mother wears a pink scarf, a green choli, and a pink lower garment. She has a circular tilaka-mark on forehead. The scarf of the maid, is blowing behind her head, a convention which is more marked