Page from Jain manuscript KALPASUTRA
Dateca. 1500
MediumOpaque watercolors and gold on paper
CultureIndian
ClassificationsManuscripts
Credit LineMuseum Associates Purchase Fund
Terms
- Manuscripts
- Calligraphy
- Cobra snakes
- Gods
- Headdresses
- Inscriptions
- Jainism
- Jewelry
- Jinas
- Necklaces
- Parsvanatha
- Religion
- Reptiles
- Svetambara
- Tirthankaras
- Indian
Object number68.071
Label CopyTwo main religious texts serve the Svetambara ("white clad") sect of Jainism: the Kalpasutra, which relates the biography of Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Jina; and
the Kalakacharyakatha (Story of Kalaka). Donors would commission copies of Jain texts as an act of merit, to present to their spiritual teacher and to eventually be housed in the temple library. This page comes from a manuscript made in Western India, probably Gujarat.
The Kalpasutra places Mahavira in the context of his twenty-three predecessors. This page depicts the twenty-third Jina Parsvanatha, identified by his serpent headdress, which represents the serpent king Dharanendra, who sheltered him with his hood.
Collections
Unidentified artist
late 15th century
late 19th or early 20th century
Atelier of Ibrahim Sultan ibn Shah Rukh
1438
Unidentified artist
late 18th century