Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c7.8

c7.8

Technically this painted wooden cover is of great interest, as it is the earliest of its kind and its painting forms a connecting link, as it were, between the later paintings at Ellura and the full fledged Western Indian school. The painting is done on plain background and there is little attempt made to distinguish the planes, though in the dancing group in the cover (Fig. 190), the figures are considerably shorter than those of the worshippers. This may be due either to the convention showing the distance between the sanctum and the dancers, or may be simply due to the crowding of in four dancers and musicians within a very restricted space. We have shown elsewhere that, in the early Jain palm-leaf miniatures, the poses of the figures are restricted, but, from this panel, it is evident that the artists were quite capable of depicting intricate dance poses. Such outstanding features of Western Indian painting, as angularity of drawing and the protrusion of the farther eye into space, are present, though it must be admitted that these features in no way detract from the æsthetic merit of the painting. The drawing On the obverse of the wooden cover, beginning from the left, there is the temple of Śrī Neminātha at Asāpalli, followed by a bell-tower (ghaṭikāgṛha). Then comes the preaching hall of Devasūri (Fig. 193). The Āchārya is seated on a high-backed stool, behind which stands a boy disciple fanning with a piece of cloth. In front of Devasūri lies the sthāpanāchārya. He is apparently explaining some intricate point to his disciple Paṇḍit Māṇikya. There are four laymen seated on the floor, hearing to the discourse. These laymen, as the Sanskrit inscription at the top says, are Rāhaḍa and other Digambaras who had apparently assembled to acquaint themselves with the trend of the discussion and report it to their guru Kumuda-chandra. They all wear short jackets and shorts, their hair is tied behind in buns; they wear beards and their foreheads are decorated with the U-shaped tilakas. In the next compartment Kumuda-chandra is seated on a high-backed stool with a boy disciple holding the peacock-tail whisk (mayūrapichchhi) standing behind. The Āchārya, apparently in a very excited mood, is conversing with a naked disciple seated in front of him. There are two men seated on the floor, apparently explaining to the Āchārya the message of Devasūri (Fig. 194). In the next compartment is shown Devasūri with a disciple standing at his back and another seated in front. Two laymen are seated on the floor and the third, as the inscription at the top says, is a messenger from Kumuda-chandra challenging Devasūri for discussion. In the next compartment is shown Kumuda-chandra with a layman seated on the floor (Fig. 195). On the right is shown an old nun dancing, who is being roughly handled by a follower of Kumuda-chandra for her act of sacrilege. In the next compartment, the old weeping nun is shown complaining to Devasūri about the treatment meted out to her by a follower of his adversary, Kumuda-chandra. In the next compartment, Kumuda-chandra is hearing to the message brought by his messenger from Devasūri. In the last compartment is a market scene. At the top a woman is selling ghee to a merchant who is measuring and pouring it in a pot. In the lower part is shown a florist carrying out his trade. Before him lies a huge basket of flowers.