Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s3.29

c9.s3.29

Kermes.—The kermes seems to have been used on a small scale in the palm-leaf miniatures from Western India, though in the miniatures on paper its use seems to have been general. Though the Sanskrit texts on painting do not mention kermes as a colouring material, some very interesting information about the kṛmirāga or carmine is obtained from the Jain literature. Commenting on the gāthā 567 of the Bhagavatī Arādhanā, a book of great sanctity to Digambara Jain community, Āśādhara observes that in the Sanskrit commentary and glosses, kṛmirāga was an insect product and was used in dyeing valuable shawls. In the Prākṛt commentary, the following story about its origin is quoted. In the country of the Charmaraṅga Mlechchhas, it was a custom to draw out human blood with leeches and collect it in vessels. After a few days, weevils were produced which yielded the kṛmirāga for dyeing shawls.²⁶ There is another interesting story of a Persian merchant in the Bṛhatkathā-kośa²⁷ in which he buys a girl named Chumkārikā, feeds her for six months, and draws her blood with leeches and produces the kṛmirāga insects thereby.