The partly damaged caption in the upper-right corner says: gaṇadhara 6 – 'six disciples'.
Six white-clad monks sit in the lotus position of meditation, holding their right hands in the gesture of exposition or explanation.
Judging from this gesture, they are preaching the message of the Jinas to their listeners.
The text beside the illustration is the start of the Sthavirāvalī section of the Kalpa-sūtra and gives the beginning of the list of the names of Mahāvīra's chief disciples – gaṇadharas. There are 11 chief disciples and in this manuscript they are distributed over two paintings, with six portrayed here.
These monks appear in the standard representation, seated in meditation posture in a garden pavilion. They wear the white robe of the Śvetāmbara monks and hold the broom – rajoharaṇa – under their right arms.
The bottom of the right margin contains the number 103. This is the folio number, in a square with two blue lines as an ornamental motif.
The original paper is slightly damaged. But, as with many Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts, there is a clear intention to make the manuscript a valuable and remarkable object in itself. This aim is signalled by the:
The three diamonds along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders of the way in which manuscripts were bound when they were on palm leaf. Strings through holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The diamonds are in the places where the holes would once have been.
The Kalpa-sūtra is the most frequently illustrated Jain text of the Śvetāmbara sect. It is read and recited by monks in the Śvetāmbara festival of Paryuṣaṇ, which takes place in August to September each year.
The first part of the Kalpa-sūtra deals with the lives of the Jinas, especially Mahāvīra, Pārśva, Nemi and Ṛṣabha. It features almost identical stories of their births, lives as princes, renunciation, enlightenment and final emancipation. The second part – Sthavirāvali – is a praise of the early teachers of Jainism. It starts with Mahāvīra's 11 direct disciples and ends with Devarddhi-gaṇi. He was the teacher who organised the Valabhī council, where the scriptures were put into writing in the fifth century CE. The third part – Sāmācārī – deals with particular monastic rules to be followed during the rainy season.
This manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is fully digitised on the Gallica Bibliothèque numérique website, part of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France) in Paris. Though the website is available in English, the information about the artefact is in French.
This rare palm-leaf page in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art comes from an early 14th-century manuscript of the Śvetāmbara scripture of the Kalpa-sūtra. The picture illustrates the episode where the antelope-headed god Hariṇaigameṣin transfers the embryo of the Jina-to-be Mahāvīra from the brahmin lady Devānandā to the kṣatriya queen Triśalā.
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/131608.html?mulR=656|4
This highly decorated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is provided by the National Gallery of Australia. A young man performs the rite of keśa-loca – ‘pulling out of the hair’ – which indicates indifference to the body. It is part of the initiation ceremony of dīkṣā, in which an initiate renounces the world and becomes a mendicant. He is watched by Śakra, king of the gods who takes an active role in the lives of the 24 Jinas.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=177852&View=LRG
This illustrated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is provided by the National Gallery of Australia. At the beginning of the section dealing with the 22nd Jina, Ariṣṭanemi, also called Nemi, the painting shows the famous episode of Prince Nemi's decision to renounce worldly life just before his wedding. He is so appalled by the distress of the animals due to be killed for his wedding feast that he decides to become a monk.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?View=LRG&IRN=147981&PICTAUS=TRUE
The National Gallery of Australia offers an elaborately illustrated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra. The 23rd Jina Pārśva sits in the lotus posture of meditation. He is easily identifiable from his seven-headed snake headdress.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=177853&View=LRG
This illustration is from a page of the Śvetāmbara scripture of the Kalpa-sūtra in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It shows the last Jina, Mahāvīra, performing the rite of keśa-loca – ‘pulling out of the hair’ – which indicates indifference to the body. It is part of the initiation ceremony of dīkṣā, in which an initiate renounces the world and becomes a mendicant. He is watched by Śakra, king of the gods, who takes an active role in the lives of the 24 Jinas.
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/105108.html?mulR=656|9
Victoria and Albert Museum. IS 84-1963. Unknown author. Early 16th century
British Library. Or. 13342. Unknown author.
British Library. Or. 13959. Unknown author. 1639
Victoria and Albert Museum. IS. 83-1963. Unknown author. 15th century
Victoria and Albert Museum. IS 46-1959. Unknown author. Late 15th to 16th centuries
British Library. I.O. San. 3177. Unknown author. 1437
Wellcome Trust Library. Gamma 3. Unknown author. 1503
British Library. Or. 11921. Unknown author. 1488