Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras

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

Page 56

Notes on Art
of green, brown, grey etc. Blue, green, yellow, grey etc. are used for various ground colours. Ocean is painted blue with wavy lines and box pattern. Fort wall of city, is sometimes in pink. A rich variety of shades of different colours is presented. Gold is also used in a few cases. Forms and costumes are typical of the population of Surat in the last century and in the beginning of this century.
Surat was not only a flourishing trade centre during the Mughal and Maratha periods of Indian history but was also a cultural centre as is known to us from several rare manuscripts copied in Surat and literary works composed in Surat during this period.
One more Sripāla-Rāsa, painted in V.S. 1878=A.D. 1821 at Pethāpur, near Gandhinagar and Mānasă in North Gujarat, is illustrated here from collections of Dehlā no upāśraya (DA), Ahmedabad (Cat. no. 502). It is not profusely illustrated like the Sripāla-Rāsa from Surat just discussed. But the paintings are typical and represent the style current in this area in the nineteenth century.96 Figures 110, 111 and 112 illustrate three out of eight paintings of this Sripāla-Rāsa. They are beautiful paintings, carefully drawn, cf, for example the trees, the horse etc. in figs. 110. The female in fig. 111 wears a dark brown odhani and a red lower garment. Her complexion is of cream colour. Background is green while the landscape in foreground is pinkish. Fig. 112 is also drawn against green background. The person shooting an arrow wears a red turban, dhoti of crimson colour and the complexions of the male and the female figures are of cream colour.
Nawab published, in Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol. I figs. 288-297, paintings from a Sripāla-Rāsa in his collection, painted at Ahmedabad in V.S. 1895=1828 A.D.97 Nineteenth century painting of Ahmedabad centre can also be studied from a profusely illustrated Kalpa-sutra in Śāmalā ni pole collection, Ahmedabad (Cat.
"Dr. Jyotindra Jaina of Shreyas Museum, Ahmedabad, infroms me that he has seen paintings in this style at Pethapur. Wall Paintings and paintings on wood in private houses in various parts of Gujarat deserve a special study before they are demolished and lost. Such studies would enlighten us further regarding painting in Gujarat (including Saurashtra and Kaccha) from 17th to 19th centuries, e.g., wall paintings depicting the battle of Cittal, at Sihor near Bhavnagar, the paintings of A yanā Mahal at Bhuj in Saurashtra etc.
91 Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol. I, p. 60 and pp. 215-217.