Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.86

c6.86

We have seen above how the traditions of Ajaṇṭā were breaking after the eighth century as seen in the wall-paintings from all over the country. To this age of the modification of technique and methods in pictorial art may be relegated the illustrated Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts from Bengal and Nepāl. These miniatures, while giving preference to the linear technique of the age, yet preserve certain Ajantesque traits. They also furnish us a record of artistic activity in Eastern India and Nepāl from the 9th to 12th century, and their importance is very much increased when we know the scarcity of the documents of graphic art which has survived from that period.