Artwork

Monk Holding a Flower Venerated by a Lay Disciple: Folio 141 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya

Monk Holding a Flower Venerated by a Lay Disciple: Folio 141 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya is an unspecified painting by the Indian Miniature artist Devachandra. It dates from 1287 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Accession no.: 1971.127.b
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

About this work

You see a monk in white robes holding up a single flower while a man in colorful clothes kneels before him.

You see a monk in white robes holding up a single flower while a man in colorful clothes kneels before him.

This painting comes from a sacred Jain book written on palm leaf in 1287. The monk’s white clothes show he belongs to the Shvetambara branch of Jainism. The flower isn’t just a flower, it’s part of a story about a prince who became a monk and learned magic.

To see more works like this, look up western india, gujarat.

Overview

This painting is a page from a Jain manuscript created on palm leaf in 1287, depicting a scene from the story of Kalakacharya, a Jain teacher.

Subject & Meaning

The image shows a white-robed monk, affiliated with the Shvetambara branch of Jainism, holding a flower and being venerated by a kneeling lay disciple. The scene is part of a narrative about a prince who became a monk and acquired magical abilities.

Technique & Style

The manuscript is written and illustrated on palm leaf, a material commonly used for sacred texts in India before the 1400s. The painting's style is characteristic of works produced in western India, particularly Gujarat.

History & Provenance

The manuscript includes a colophon, which provides information about its production date and location. This page is the second-to-last in the manuscript and contains the beginning of the colophon.