The V&A Museum will be hosting the long waited and ambitious JAINpedia display to be exhibited in the prestigious Nehru Gallery of Indian Art. This gallery houses some of the Museum’s highlights such as Tipoo’s Tiger and Ranjit Singhs Golden Throne. It is also home to a rare selection of Jain manuscripts which will be rotated for the new JAINpedia display to open to the public on 14th May with a series of events and programmes to complement this. The first such event is Jain Art from India Gallery Talk 20th May 13.00 hrs in Nehru Gallery. JAINpedia display will consist of 19 objects including paintings and manuscript covers. The below tables is a narrative of what visitors to the special display can view free of charge till December 2012.
Please visit http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/index.html for some more information on the exhibits.
| Themes: | Text/Manuscript: | Page: |
| A. Lives of the Jinas: The Five Great Events
Mahavira/generic Jina biography: 1ST FRAME 1. Top: Transfer of Mahavira’s Embryo 2. Middle: The Birth of Mahavira 3. Bottom: The Birth of Rishabha and his marriage 2ND FRAME 1. Top: Renunciation: Parshvanatha giving away his possessions and plucking his hair 2. Middle: (Enlightenment) Mahavira’s Samavasarana (preaching enclosure) 3. Bottom: (Nirvana) Mahavira as a Siddha |
Kalpasutra | IM.7-1931
IM.8-1931 IS.83-1963 (two registers) IS.46:55-1959 IS.46:47-1959 IS.46:49-1959 |
| B. Lives of Jinas where different from Mahavira’s, and disciples
3RD FRAME 1. Top: Birth of Neminatha, and Neminatha (turning away from the wedding feast where the animals are to be slaughtered) 2. Middle: Parshvanatha (releasing Dharanendra from the flames, then sheltered by the nagaraja Dharanendra) 3. Bottom: Mahavira’s disciple Indrabhuti Gautama attains perfect knowledge |
Kalpasutra | IS.46:59-1959
IS.46:56-1959 IS.46:50-1959 |
| C. Monastic rules, discipline and morals
4TH FRAME
1. Top: The story of Neminatha 2. Middle: The story of King Sanjaya 3. Bottom: Rules of conduct for monks |
Uttaradhyayanasutra | IS.2-1972 folio 23r (two figures in a cave, presumably relating to the story of Neminatha’s fiancée and Neminatha’s elder brother)
IS.2-1972 folio 18r (King Sanjaya before and after conversion: 2 registers, King hunting above, monk Gardabhali below) IS.2-1972 folio 35r (1 register, monk standing in kayotsarga body-abandonment posture, and tortures by animals and humans; Siddha or perfected being in crescent above: subject of self control – monk overcomes trials by gods, animals and men) |
| D. Cosmology
5TH FRAME 1. Top: The world ruler Asurakumara and his 6 jewels (plus 2 animals) 2. Middle: Planetary bodies 3. Bottom: Animal vahanas of deities
6TH FRAME 1. Top: Cosmic chart showing the dvipas (continents): upper half 2. Bottom: Cosmic chart… : lower half |
Sangrahanisutras:
C17 Sangrahanisutra C18 Sangrahanisutra |
IS.2-1984, c.1630
IS.35:16-1971 IS.35:20-1971 IS.35:15-1971 IS.35:14-1971 – show these two together as one large painting |
| E. Manuscript covers
7TH FRAME 2 covers (to go in a deep Half Imp frame) 1. Top: Manuscript cover, painted wood, the 14 dreams of Trishala, C19 2. Bottom: Manuscript cover, red satin, embroidered, the 14 dreams of Trishala, C19 |
.
IS.50-1983 IS.20-1978 |
|
| F. Large paintings
To be displayed in the case behind 1. Left: Victory Banner (Jayatra Yantra), opaque watercolour on cotton, Gujarat, 1447 2. Right: Cosmological painting showing continents separated by oceans; painting on cotton, Deshnok, Rajasthan, 1844 |
IM.89-1936
6565(IS) |