Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.216

c6.216

An examination of the miniatures in the first group of the palm-leaf period shows that the subject of painting was confined to the representation of the Tīrthamkaras, gods, goddesses, monks, patrons (both male and female), and very rarely, a king. This is a limited list of subjects and their appeal, more or less, is iconographic. No problem of grouping and perspective troubles the painter, as rarely the number of figures in a composition exceeds four. In full accordance with the simplicity of the subjects, the attitudes and poses are also limited and strictly conventional. The Jinas seated with their legs crossed are shown in full view. In the standing pose the face is generally represented in a modified version of three-quarter profile, with only a slight part of the farther cheek and eye shown, the knees and hip joints are generally stiffly erect, though the *tribhaṅga* pose of the medieval sculpture sometimes adds graceful curves to a standing figure. The postures of sitting at ease are shown in two variations; in the first, both legs are lowered and rest on a foot-stool; in the second variation, the left leg is crossed on the seat and the right one allowed to dangle. In another sitting posture, the left leg is gathered and the right one bent and raised. The graceful gestures of the hands or *mudrās*, as they were known, have not yet lost all meaning. The *mudrās*, such as *Añjali* or folded hands to offer respect to gods and teachers, *Vitarka* or the gesture of discussion in which the thumb is joined with the first finger, *Varadā-mudrā* in which the hand is stretched downward with the palm turned outward and the fingers outstretched, and *Kartarihasta* for gracefully holding the symbols by the gods and goddesses with two fingers, the rest being bent, are commonly used. The artistic anatomy of the human body also shows traces of ancient conventions. Broad shoulders and narrow hips are the chief bodily characteristics. The chests of both men and women are full; a woman's breasts are fully developed and well arched. In the three-quarter view of the face the farther eye is shown protruding, but the protrusion is not so prominent as in the miniatures of the paper period. On the whole the general poses of the figures find their counterpart in the contemporary and even earlier sculptures. Specially, the iconographical conceptions and attributes of the Jinas and the gods and goddesses show an ancient heritage.