Leaf from a Kalpa Sutra (Jain Book of Rituals)
15th century
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions
(Average size .1–.71): 4 1/2 x 11 3/8 in. (11.4 x 28.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture
India (Gujarat)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956
Accession Number
57.51.38.67
Art Historical Context
This exquisite leaf from a *Kalpa Sutra*, a sacred Jain text outlining rituals, monastic rules, and biographies of revered spiritual teachers called Tirthankaras, hails from 15th-century Gujarat, India. Created by the artist Bhadrabahu, it exemplifies the Western Indian manuscript tradition, where wealthy Jain patrons commissioned lavishly illustrated books for temple use during festivals like Paryushan. These manuscripts were not just religious guides but treasures of devotion, preserving Jainism's emphasis on non-violence, asceticism, and ethical living amid medieval India's vibrant spiritua...
About the Artist
Bhadrabahu
Ācārya Bhadrabāhu (c. 367–c. 298 BCE) was one of the most consequential figures in the intellectual and institutional history of Jainism, a scholar-monk traditionally revered as the last Shruta Kevalin — that is, the final ascetic to possess complete, unmediated knowledge of the entire body of Jain scripture as transmitted from Mahavira, the religion's founding teacher. Born in Pundravardhana, a r...