No caption is visible because the top right side of the page is badly torn.
Bedecked in jewellery, a large figure wearing a kind of tilaka on his forehead sits in the lotus position under an arch. Either side of him are two smaller figures with their hands raised in respect.
They are worshippers. The one on the left holds a cotton broom under his armpit. He is probably a monk, shown as a representative of the monastic community. The one on the right could represent the lay community. Other smaller figures are musicians and dancers.
This is the standard representation of a Jina in the heaven where he is reborn before his final incarnation on earth. In that final life, he gains omniscience and becomes a Jina. For the the 24th Jina, Mahāvīra, this heaven is known as Puṣpottara.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
The page is quite badly torn along the top right and down the left-hand side. The bottom of the right margin contains the number 1. This is the folio number.
The original paper has been pasted onto a new base. 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 golden diamonds along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders of the way in which manuscripts were bound at one time. Strings through one or more holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The shapes are in the places where the holes would once have been.
Three diamonds mean a verso side.
The elaborate script is Jaina Devanāgarī, which is here like calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit.
There are a few notable features of this script, which:
The lines in smaller script above and below the main text and in the margins are explanations in Sanskrit of phrases found in the central part. The two small parallel lines like slanted = after the words are meant to separate the explanations.
A Jina is always shown in meditation, either standing or sitting, like here. Among the Śvetāmbaras, the Jina is thought of as a spiritual king and is often depicted with ornaments and pictured seated on a throne.
The Kalpa-sūtra is the most frequently illustrated Jain text of the Śvetāmbara sect. It is read and recited by monks in the 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 emancipation.
The second part – Sthavirāvali – is a praise of the early teachers of Jainism. The third part – Sāmācārī – deals with particular monastic rules to be followed during the rainy season.
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
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 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
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
British Library. Or. 13700. Unknown author. 1445
British Library. Or. 13959. Unknown author. 1639
Victoria and Albert Museum. IS 84-1963. Unknown author. Early 16th century
British Library. Or. 13701. Sukha-sāgara for the commentary. 17th to 18th centuries