Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras

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

Page 62

Notes on Art
manuscript was copied in V. S. 1760 = A. D. 1703 at Vyāhära in South Gujarat. Features of different figures are typical of the region in which it was painted though the general style seems to be the same popular style of Gujarat in the eighteenth century.
Fig. 142 is from a horoscope of one Haridāsa, son of Gulābdāsa, of Deesāvāla, caste; the horoscope was cast and written in scroll form in V. S. 1781=1724 A. D. at Ahmedabad. The illustrations contain representations of planets etc., of those which Mars (Mangala ) and Mercury (Budha ) are shown in fig, 142. The horoscope is preserved in the L. D. Institute, Ahmedabad (Reg. no. 27678 ), size 2425 x 15 cms.
Besides scroll paintings of Vijnaptipatras available on paper (or cloth) in Jaina bhandāras we also obtain other types of patas on cloth or paper in scroll form or otherwise. 106 Some of the less known and unpublished pațas and Vijnaptipatras are noted in Cat. nos. 518-564, pp. 82-92. One such interesting scroll is L.D. Institute, no. 27824 (Cat. no. 569) of Lokanālikā or Lokapuruşa, on paper, profusely illustrated with paintings of Devaloka (gods in heavens), Madhyaloka, Hells and nether regions. It was painted in V.S. 1858 = 1801 A.D. Fig 156 represents a section from it showing Devaloka, Vimānas of Jyotişka region, and part of the Madhyaloka This pața seems to have been painted in Gujarat.
Figs. 157-158 illustrate two sections from another big pața, with text regarding Šilpa and Jyotișa, from collections of the L. D. Institute (no. 6991, size : 493 x 21 cms.) painted in the nineteenth century with representations of asterisms (naksatras) signs of the Zodiac, planets, etc.
Fig. 159 is a diagram or chart on cloth of the Jambū-dvi pa circular in shape, surrounded by the ocean Lavaṇasamudra. Explanatory notes regarding continents, rivers, mountains, etc. of the Jambū-dvipa are written everywhere in the chart. The language is Gujarati. The chart was prepared in V.S. 1888 = 1831 A.D. size : 95 x 84 cms. It is preserved as no. 28068 in the L.D. Institute, Ahmedabad (Cat. no. 540).
108 For a list of several Vijñaptipatras and other patas, see More Documents of Jaina Paintings, pp. 26-27. Also see Hiranand Shastri, Indian Pictorial Art as developed in book-illustrations, Gaekwad's Archaeological Series, no. 1, Baroda, 1936; A pre-Mughal Citrapaļa from Gujarat, IHQ., Sept. 1938, pp. 425-431, Moti Chandra, Jaina Miniature Paintings from Western India, pp. 46-56.