Sitting under an arch, a large blue figure takes the lotus position of meditation on a throne. He is richly bedecked in jewellery and has a kind of tilaka on his forehead. He is flanked by standing men facing the throne. A large white crescent is below.
The 22nd Jina Neminātha or Lord Nemi is the seated figure. He is easily identified by the blue colour of his body, the same as that of the Hindu god Kṛṣṇa, his cousin according to the Jain tradition. The figures at the sides stand in worship.
The white crescent is the siddha-śilā, which represents the concept of emancipation. This means that the soul is being liberated from the physical body. Nemi’s soul was liberated after he had lived a thousand years.
Apart from the crescent, this picture is the standard representation of a Jina living in the heaven before his final incarnation as a Jina. The emancipation is usually shown in a natural landscape, without any human figure.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear. Note the intrictate details of the artwork.
This is a good example of an average Kalpa-sūtra manuscript. The paintings have a red background, but there are no other signs of an aesthetic object of special value.
The three red circles along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders of the way in which manuscripts were bound at one time. Strings through three holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The circles are in the places where the holes would once have been.
The elaborate script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Prakrit.
There are a few notable features of this script:
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
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 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 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
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 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
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
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
British Library. Or. 13342. Unknown author.
British Library. Or. 12744. 1522. Unknown author.
British Library. I.O. San. 3177. Unknown author. 1437
British Library. Or. 5149. Unknown author. 1464
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512