Collection Online as of September 27, 2023

Two nuns teaching lay women, colophon page of folio 167 (recto) from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya

1278

Part of a set. See all set records

Western India, Gujarat, Palanpur

(Prahladanapura)

Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf

Overall: 5.4 x 32.1 cm (2 1/8 x 12 5/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1971.126.a

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Small captions give the names of the figures; the larger nun is identified as the female leader (<em>mahattarā</em>).

Description

Wearing white billowing monastic robes, the two nuns contrast with the beautifully adorned laywomen, who wear elaborately patterned textiles and jewelry. Jains commissioned illuminated manuscripts as a way to accrue religious merit, and they would have images of themselves at prayer inserted into the image cycles like this as signs of their patronage.

Inscriptions

Inscription

iti śrī|kālikācārya-kathānaka samāpta || CHA || dātāni|trīṇicaitāni spaṣṭaṁ ṣa|ṣṭyadhidā |? nicai mathāna||kasya kathitā saṁkhyā | saṁkhyāvatāṁ ma tā || 1 saṁ° 1335 varṣe āṣāḍhaśu|di 11 gurau śrī- prahlādanapure | likhitaṁ || maṁgalaṁ mahāśrīḥ || CHA ||

Inscription Remark

This page contains a colophon stating that the manuscript of the Kalakacharya-katha was written in Prahladanpur, which is modern-day Palanpur in Gujarat, on the 11th day of the month of Ashadha in the year 1335 of the Vikrama Era, which is equivalent to 1278.

Inscription

[[Left painting, left caption]] Praḥ Matisuṃdariḥ (?)

Inscription Remark

This caption identifies the name of the smaller figure in the painting.

Inscription

[[Left painting, right caption]] Śrī Jayasuṃdari (?) Mahattarā

Inscription Translation

The Female Leader, Shri Jayasundari (?) or Jayasundīra

Inscription Remark

This caption gives the name and rank of the larger nun in the painting.

Inscription

[[Right painting, left caption]] (indistinct)

Inscription Remark

Caption identifies the name of the figure in the painting.

Inscription

[[Right painting, right caption]] Vahmahasala (?) Devi

Inscription Remark

Caption identifies the name of the figure in the painting.

Provenance

Sanghavina Padano Bhandar, Patan, India

?–1971

(Sander L. Feldman, Washington, DC, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1971–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Pal, Pratapaditya, with contributions by Shridhar Andhare and others. The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994. Reproduced: cat. no. 80, p. 93, 200-201.

Brown, W. Norman. The Story of Kālaka: Texts, History, Legends, and Miniature Paintings of the Śvetāmbara Jain Hagiographical Work, the Kālakācāryakathā (with 15 Plates). Washington, DC: Lord Baltimore Press, 1933. Mentioned: p. 120

Nawab, Sarabhai Manilal. Jain Paintings: Paintings on Palm-Leaves and Wooden Bookcovers Only. vol. I. Ahmedabad: Messrs Sarabhai Manilal Nawab, 1980. p. 20, see especially note 19, figs. 71 and 72

Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Mentioned: p. 7, cat. no. 1vii.

"March at the CMA.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 63, no. 1 (2023): 24. Reproduced: P. 24.

Exhibition history

The Peaceful Conquerors: Jain Art from India. New Orleans Museum of Art (June 29-September 17, 1995); Victoria and Albert Museum (November 22, 1995-February 18, 1996).

Indian Gallery 242 Rotation – April-November 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 2-November 18, 2018).

Text and Image in Southern Asia (Indian Painting and Himalayan rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-March 5, 2023).