Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras

Author(s): Umakant P Shah, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 16

TREASURES OF JAINA BHANDĀRAS
NOTES ON ART
Jaina Bhandāras and temples have preserved for us rich treasures of Indian art and culture. The objects are both old and varied and include, besides manuscripts (palm-leaf, paper, etc.) on various subjects, painted manuscripts on palmleaf and paper, painted patas (on cotton as well as paper) of tantric worship (like the Vardhamāna-Vidyā-pața or the Sūrimantra-pata ), or patas with diagrams and illustrations of Jaina cosmographical concepts (like the Jambūdvipa-pata, the Lokapurușa and hell-scenes, the Adhāi-dvipa pata etc.), Citrapata, (like the Pañca-tirthi-pata, or the Vividha-tirtha pața ), scrolls with illustrations of texts on silpa (mainly Vāstu-pūjana etc.) and Jyotişa (mainly nimitta, astrology) or Vijñapti-patras ( letters of invitation to monks ), painted or embroidered pāțhāms!, painted wooden book-covers of palm-leaf and paper manuscripts, embroidered wall-hangings etc., painted wooden boxes for preserving manuscripts, as also, in shrines, images in stones, metals, semi-precious stones and costly jewels, woodwork, wall-paintings and so on. For any serious student of Indian art and culture, a study of such varied and old Jaina materials is indispensable.
This very valuable heritage of Indian art and culture preserved in Jaina Bhandāras (Libraries of manuscripts) and shrines was not much known till about 1914–1920 A.D. Since Coomaraswamy and W. Norman Brown published their pioneer articles and works on Jaina paintings of the Kalpa-sútra, the Kālaka-kathā, the Uttarādhyayana sūtra, etc., quite a large number of painted Jaina manuscripts, patas, book-covers etc., especially of Svetāmbara Jaina origin?, have been brought to light and published. Most of this material became freely available to art-histrorians
Muni Punyavijaya, Bharatiya Sramana-samskrti ane lekana-kalā (in Gujarati), Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol. I, pp. 1-136, esp. pp. 10, 99, 100, 111-113, 116 for explanations and for information on manuscriptology etc.,
*About two decades ago, Prof. Hiralal Jaina first published palm-leaf and book-cover miniatures, of Digambara Jaina patronage, from manuscripts of Dhavala, Jaya-Dhavala, Maha-Dhavala etc. from the Jaina Bhandāra at Müdabidri in Karnataka. Since then Dr. Sarayu Doshi explored and