Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c8.s1.t4.1

c8.s1.t4.1

Wooden panels were used generally in medieval times by the merchants to note down their daily transactions, which they transferred to the account books at their leisure, and the writers to write the rough versions of their books before transferring them to the palm-leaf or paper manuscripts. They were also extensively used as book-covers, and, in that case, they were often illustrated with diverse scenes pertaining to life of the Jinas, incidents from the lives of the great Jain monks, etc. They also served as exercise books for children and often alphabets were painted over these for the children to copy.¹⁵