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Ten Classes of Jain Cosmological Deities Identified by Their Crown Ornaments, Folio from a Laghu-Samgrahanisutra ('Short' Book of Compilation)circa 1575

Not on view
Illustrated manuscript page with nine standing figures in individual painted panels above four lines of Devanagari script; figures rendered in flat style with bold outlines in blue, red, green, and yellow
Artist or Maker
Unknown
Title
Ten Classes of Jain Cosmological Deities Identified by Their Crown Ornaments, Folio from a Laghu-Samgrahanisutra ('Short' Book of Compilation)
Place Made
India, Gujarat
Date Made
circa 1575
Medium
Opaque watercolor and ink on paper
Dimensions
4 3/8 x 10 1/4 in. (11.11 x 26.04 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Jane Greenough Green in memory of Edward Pelton Green
Accession Number
AC1999.127.18
Classification
Books
Collecting Area
South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes

This folio comes from a Jain manuscript of the Laghu-Samgrahanisutra ('Short' Book of Compilation) composed by Shri Chandrasuri in 1136. It serves as an index for the Jain conception of the cosmos. Jains commissioned illustrated manuscripts such as this and the Kalpa Sutra (Book of Sacred Precepts) to atone for past sins or mark the completion of a religious vow. These manuscripts were then donated to their spiritual mentors for study and became the property of the temple libraries.

In this folio, the ten classes of cosmological deities are identified by their crown ornaments. From the viewer’s left to right, their symbols are the Chudamani (jewel), Snake (not shown), Garuda (sunbird), Vajra (a thunderbolt, but here shown as a crown), Kalasha (water pot), Simha (lion), Ashva (horse), Gaja (elephant), Makara (aquatic creature), and Vardhamana (traditionally represented by a beggar’s bowl, but here by a human figure).