Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.88

c6.88

The majority of the illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts is that of the *Aṣṭasahasrikā Prajñāpāramitā*. There are also illustrated manuscripts of the *Pañcharakṣā* and *Mahāmāyūrī*, but they are very rare. These manuscripts could be divided into two classes, those written and illustrated in Bengal, and those illustrated in Nepāl. The outstanding manuscripts from the æsthetic point of view are : (1) A manuscript of the *Aṣṭasahasrikā Prajñāpāramitā* (No. 20, 589) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, dated 1136 A.D. (2) A manuscript in the collection of Mr. Ajit Ghose datable to circa 1100 A.D. (3) A manuscript of the *Mahāmāyūrī* datable to the 12th century, in the Bhārat Kalā Bhavan, Benares. (4) A manuscript of the *Prajñāpāramitā* formerly in the collection of Mr. Vrendenburg written in the 39th regnal year of Rāmapāla. (5) A manuscript of the *Prajñāpāramitā* written in Nepāl, now in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and is dated in 1070–71 A.D.⁴⁸