Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Folio 167, from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya: Nuns Teaching Lay Women (recto); Text (verso)

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

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The year occurs in the fourth line, to the right of the nuns.

Description

This page is from the end of a manuscript, which contains two texts often paired together, the Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya. The latter tells a story about a Jain teacher who used magic to overthrow an evil king. The lay women who listen reverently to the nuns’ teaching may be the donors who paid for the creation of the manuscript.

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; Reproduced: p. 121, plate 3, figs. 7 and 8

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.

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).