Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.192

c6.192

The next illustrated palm-leaf in chronological order is that of the Ogha Niryukti and six other books in the collection of the Jain Grantha Bhaṇḍār, Chhāṇī (Baroda State). It is dated 1161 A.D. and contains the representations of nineteen goddesses, including sixteen Vidyādevīs and the Yakṣhas Kapardī and Brahmaśānti⁹ (Figs. 17–37; 38–42). These miniatures are of great importance for the study of the iconography of the sixteen Vidyādevīs in the Jain Mantraśāstra, as these are their earliest representation in painting. In the ceiling of the Vimala Vasahī temple at Delvādā, their figures are carved in marble, but, in painting, their representations are clearer. Besides their iconographical importance, the miniatures have preserved for us the details of contemporary costumes, both of men and women. The linear conception of drawing, attempts at colour-modelling, the pointed treatment of the nose and chin and the slight protrusion of the farther eye into space are some of their outstanding characteristics.