More Documents of Jaina and Gujarati Paintings

Author(s): Umakant P Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Gopāla-Stuti from Kānkroli illustrated here in figs. 45-48 dates from c. 1620-1650 A. D. Of the Gujarāti painting of the seventeenth century an interesting Sangrahanī sūtra from the Khajanchi collection, now in the National Museum, is dated in A. D. 1638.53 It was painted at Wadhwan in Saurashtra (Gujarāt). A few pages from this are illustrated here through the courtsey of the National Museum, New Delhi (figs. 67-68). A beautiful eighteenth century Saṁgrahani imitating the themes of Matar Samgrahani, is preserved in Ujamphoi collection of the L. D. Institute of Indology. The bright colours used remind one of the Upadeśamālā-Bālāvabodha, published in the New Documents of Jaina Paintings.
Closely allied to these paintings and also probably painted in Saurashtra, are the miniatures of a complete Sangrahani, with Gujarāti commentary, written in Samvat 1720=1663 A. D., from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (figs. 74-75).
The elimination of the farther eye and the omission of three-quarters profiles, representing human figures in full profiles seem to have started much earlier than c. 1500 A. D. This is seen in the figure of Garuda incised on the Mändhātā Plates of Paramāra Jayasimha-Jayavarman, d. V. S. 1331 (=1274 A. D.) published by D. C. Sircar, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXII pp. 139 ff. and in the plates of Mahārājkumāra Udayavarma Deva, d. V. S. 1256=1200 A. D., published by Fleet in Indian Antiquary, Vol. XVI pp. 252 ff. and plates (fig. 16).
Of perhaps the eighteenth century are the numerous, now dispersed, pages of what is known as Tularam's Bhāgavata. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has six such paintings, some more are in various collections in Boston and elsewhere in the U.S.A. Of this group one painting from Watson collection is published by Pramod Chandra (Indian Miniature Painting, p. 54, fig. 85); another by S. C. Welch and M. Beach, in Gods, Thrones and Peacocks (New York 1965), no. 15. A painting from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art collection is here published as fig. 39, by the kind permission of Dr. Stella Kramrisch. These paintings show a popula style, somewhat folkish, of the late seventeenth and the early eighteenth century A. D.
The search for dated manuscript or manuscripts with place names produced one very interesting result. Muni Sri Punya vijayaji discovered a profusely illustrated Upadeśamālā-Bālāvabodha, from the Devaśā nā pāda collection, which is discussed by Moti Chandra and Umakant Shah in New Documents of Jaina Paintings. The beautiful paintings in bright colours illustrate various stories of a didactic nature. The illustrations are almost like secular paintings and represent a mature style. Parellels of this style could be traced to two dated Vijñaptipatras written in Sirohi, now in the National Museum, to a Sapta-Sati MS. also from Sirohi in the National Museum, and to a few pages of Sapta-Sati in the Prince of Wales Museum. This style was therefore called Sirohi School. But a painting in the Los Angeles Museum bas in margin some writing in Gujarāti language (fig. 76). Sirohi was also
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53. Miniature Paintings from Shri Moti Chandra Khajanchi collection, figs. 97-98.
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