Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.429

c6.429

Probably of the same date (middle of the 15th century), as the Pañchatīrthī scroll, is a cloth painting, representing the Samavasaraṇa of Ṛṣabhadeva, measuring 21" x 21", in the collection of Mr. Sarabhai Nawab (Fig. 187). For the proper understanding of this picture an account of the Samavasaraṇa must be given. This is briefly a walled enclosure prepared by Indra or minor gods, intended for the delivery of a religious discourse by a Jina, immediately after he becomes a Kevalin. The following description of a Samavasaraṇa is extracted from Samavasaraṇa Stavana.¹¹