Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.369

c6.369

Gītagovinda. The Gītagovinda, a collection of devotional and erotic lyrics by Jayadeva (12th century), deals with the love episodes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. It seems that the devotional side of the Gītagovinda found great favour in Gujarāt. The earliest illustrated manuscript of the Gītagovinda belongs to the collection of Pandit Bala shankar Bhaṭṭajī Agnihotri, the hereditary priest of the Kalkāmāta temple, Pāvāgaḍh Hills in eastern Gujarāt.⁵⁸ It has seven miniatures which Dr. Majumdar assigns on good grounds to the middle of the fifteenth century.⁵⁹ The style of the miniatures is the same as that of the Śvetāmbara Jain miniatures. At the top of each miniature, there is either an architectural setting or a blue line indicating the sky. At times floral designs framing these lines enhance the beauty of the miniatures. The colours employed are brick-red used for background, green, blue, yellow, pink, pure and pearly whites, the last was used to paint the jewellery and floral decorations.