Text, Folio 57 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra
1488
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1488
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Text, Folio 57 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra is a 1488 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see eleven identical monks sitting in rows, all shaved-headed, in white robes, hands in teaching poses. This page comes from a Jain holy book. The monks are the same person—Mahavira’s eleven closest followers—shown as equals. The tiny flower grid above holds sacred sounds written as one shape. The clean lines and bright colors were meant to help readers focus. Look up more paintings of western india, gujarat to see how other artists drew the same stories.
The founder of Jainism, Mahavira, had 11 main disciples, all depicted as identical to one another. They all sit in a meditative posture, with the left hand in the lap, while the right hand is in the gesture of teaching. They each have shaven heads, elongated earlobes, and white robes, indicating that this manuscript was used by the Shvetambara (White Clad) sect. In the upper central grid, decorated with flowers, is a stylized om-hrim, mystic syllables visually combined to invoke the essence of all Jain teaching.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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