Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras

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

Page 19

Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras
taken. Some of these textiles are imported in Gujarat and Rajasthan from other parts of India.
As a pre-requisite for all such studies knowledge of manuscript traditions and a certain judgement in approximately deciding the age of any undated manuscript are necessary. It is, therefore, necessary and perhaps overdue that we make a more scientific study of the format etc. of our manuscripts, not only from Western India, but also from other parts of India. It is advisable to collect and furnish data of format etc. and especially of scripts of dated manuscripts from different regions of this country, preserved in different collections. For a history of paper manufacture, the Jaina Bhandāras can provide several dated manuscripts for chemical analysis. Some very interesting material helpful in such studies of format etc. was presented in the Exhibition held in Ahmedabad, (L. D. Institute of Indology) in November 1975 towards the end of celebrations of 2500 years of Mahāvira's Nirvāna. At the end of this work is given a Catalogue of all the antiquities displayed in this exhibition.* Illustrations in this work are from this exhibition.
As a small beginning towards a study of scripts, format etc. of such manuscripts, we are illustrating here a few pages only from different palm-leaf and paper manuscripts from Jaina Bhandāras (figures 1 - 11).
Fig. 1 shows the last page of a paper manuscript of Káraka-sambandhodyota copied in V. S. 1286 = 1229 A. D. The size is 17.5 x 7.5 cms. It belongs to the Collection of Muni Punyavijaya, L. D. Institute, No. 27573. It will be seen that when paper was introduced for copying manuscripts the paper was not always cut according to the size of palm-leaf manuscripts used before. It would, therefore, be difficult to assign an age to a paper manuscript, merely on the evidence of its size.
Fig. 2 illustrates the last page of Vandanaka-cūrni, a palm-leaf ms. in Pravartaka Kāntivijayaji's collection, Sri Atmārāma Jñānamandira, Baroda. It is dated in V. S. 1178 = 1121 A. D.
Fig. 3 represents the last page of a palm-leaf ms. of Sri Sānti-Vșttam, copied in Patan in V. S. 1412=1355 A. D., preserved in the Ātmārāma Jñānamandira, Baroda.
Fig. 4 shows a part of a page from the palm-leaf ms. of Trișaștiśalākāpuruṣacarita, copied in V. S. 1297 = 1240 A. D., preserved in Sri Sāntinātha Bhandāra,
* Entries in this Catalogue are referred to here as Cat. no.