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112 : Śramana, Vol 56, No. 1-6/January-June 2005
reference to the art of painting is seen in the gateways (torana) of the Sanchi stūpa (Madhya Pradesh, second century BCE 50 CE) where the architrave, with its voluted ends, is carved like a painted scroll upon which the story unfolds.
Literature abounds with references to the tradition of painting in ancient India but nowhere is the art of manuscript illustration mentioned. Most references are to the mural tradition, of which the frescoes of Ajanta, Ellora (Maharashtra) and Sittanavasal (near Tanjavur in Tamilnadu) are prominent examples. They are dated up to the ninth century and represent a pan-Indian style. The Ajanta murals are remarkable for the depiction of nature and human figures in architectural and landscape compositions. The use of devices such as foreshortening, perspective, and modelling have given them a plastic, naturalistic quality. Later, the Ajantasque style gave way to linear conventions; forms were created with controlled lines infilled with flat patches of colour and with no attempt towards modelling.
The beginning of the Western Indian style of painting can, in fact, be seen in the engraved drawings on the copper plate grants dating back to the mid-tenth century, but no manuscript from this period survives.
The earliest illustrated manuscripts also suggest a late beginning of the art of book illustration in India. The Ogha Niryukti, on the rules of conduct for Jaina monks, dated 1060 is the earliest manuscript on palm-leaf to carry beautiful drawings of an auspicious vase (kalasa), of Laksmi, the goddess of riches, and Kamadeva, the god of love. Similarly, other early books containing illustrations representing gods and goddesses, though they have no relation to the text, also suggest the modest beginnings of the art of book illustration in India. For instance, the Digambara Satkhanḍāgama ("Scripture of Six Works") of 1112 is the earliest illustrated manuscript to show a preaching scene a Jina, the goddess Cakreśvari and some decorative motifs. Hagiographical works like the Mahāvīra Carita dated 1185, and the tenth canto of Hemacandrācārya's Triśaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣa dated
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