Studying "Jambudvipa" - Jain cosmological painting

Jambudvipa

Painting of Jain cosmology

Introduction • The study, recitation and veneration of sacred scriptures are a primary religious focus of the Jains. Important sermons, canonical texts and commentaries were transmitted orally long before being committed to writing.

• The earliest Jain illuminated manuscripts are inscribed and painted on prepared palm-leaves.

• After the introduction of paper into western India, Jain texts were increasingly written on this new and more versatile medium. The use of paper permitted larger compositions and a greater variety of decorative devices and borders.

• There is also an extensive Jain tradition of larger paintings, from album-size to monumental paintings on cloth. The most spectacular of these are the cosmological paintings depicting the structure of the Jain universe.

• Among the more abstract representations of the jain cosmology are the maps of the middle world - from where liberation from the cycle of rebirth is possible in the central continent called Jambudvipa.

Jambudvipa The most spectacular abstract Jain Art depicts the structure of the middle world (Madhya-loka/ the mortal world) where it is possible for men to be born.

They represent continents, arranged concentrically and separated by blue rings representing oceans.

It comprises: • Jambū-dvīpa - The continent • Lavana-samudra - The ocean • Natural landcapes • Area accessed by the humans.

The Island of the Rose-apple tree (Gouache on cloth, 16th century, Gujarat)

In the context of Puranas In the 16th century the inquisitive human mind naturally yearned to understand the universe and man’s place within it. Followers of the Vedic culture, for example, learned about the cosmos from scriptures like the Bhagavata Purana.

• The Artists perception of the earth to be round • Bhagavatam’s “Earth” (disk- shaped Bhu-mandala), a topographical map of south - central Asia.

• Bhagavatam, which uses one model to represent different features of the cosmos.

• Bhu-mandala is divided into a series of geographic features, traditionally called dvipas, or “islands,” varshas, or “regions,” and samudras ”oceans”.

• Bhu-mandala as a planisphere, or a polar-projection map of the Earth globe.

Puranic Cosomgraphy • The entire Cosmos is divided into seven concentric island continents (sapta-dvipa vasumati) separated by the seven encircling oceans • The seven continents of the Puranas are stated as Jambudvipa, Plaksadvipa, Salmalidvipa, Kusadvipa, Krouncadvipa, Sakadvipa, and Pushkaradvipa.

Seven intermediate oceans consist of salt-water (Lvana samudra), sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and water respectively.

• Continent Jambudvipa (Indian Blackberry Island), also known as Sudarshanadvipa forms the innermost concentric island.

Historical development of Bhumandala features.

The Map The central continent is called Jambudvipa, the continent of the rose-apple tree. In the south of this continent is India.

At the very centre of the map stands Mount Meru, the cosmic axis.

• The central cosmic axis shows the connection of the heaven and the earth • The artist has visualized the continenent from a top view of the universere • Used free proportions, thinking beyond the acutual geographic proportion so as to keep the central area very spaced out • Shows the the central area activitites in details

Lvana Samudra- the ocean Jambudvipa, the circular island, divided into nine countries.

Mt. Meru representing the world axis and is surmounted by the city of Brahma , the universal creator.

Bhumandala

Jamudvipa - The story behind the name • Continent Jambudvipa (Indian Blackberry Island), also known as Sudarshanadvipa • It forms the innermost concentric island.

• The fruits of the Jambu tree are said to be as large as elephants and when they become rotten and fall upon the crest of the mountains, a river of juice is formed from their expressed juice.

The river so formed is called Jambunadi (Jambu river) and flows through Jambudvipa, whose inhabitants drink its waters.

• Continent Jambudvipa is said to comprise nine varsas (zones) and eight significant mountains.

Symbols used in the map • The disk of Jambū-dvipa is surrounded by a fence of jewels crowned by a high garland of lotuses made from gems. It is washed by the Lavana-samudra where the tides which regulate.

• The four cardinal points four ‘triumphal’ gates open on to the ocean.

Through the east and west of these, named Vijaya and Vijayanta, project the mouths of the two principal rivers of the middle land.

• Six main mountain ranges cross the continent from east to west, and thus divide it, from north to south, into seven lands. • The peaks are crowned with, sanctuaries, shows especially the long mountain ranges by which the intermediate countries are bounded. Their peaks are crowned with sanctuaries. • Rising from huge lakes in the mountain heights, long rivers flow down to where a peak impedes their course and turns them towards the east and the west, until they finally flow into the Lavanasamudra.

• In the centre is Mt. Meru, to which are joined, to the north and south, the two pairs of ranges of the 'Elephant-tusk' (Vaksārd) mountains, whose arcs enclose the two Kurus, Devakuru (where the Śālmalī tree is found) to the south, and Uttarakuru (where the Jambū tree grows) to the north. The map shows the open spaces at the foot of Mt. Meru, towards the east and west, where the forests grow, to which correspond the woods (unusually visible here) which lie on the shores of the ocean.

Reason behind painting the map The explanation for the heavenly features of Jambudvipa is that Bhu-mandala was also intended to represent the realm of the devas. • Like the other interpretations we have considered, this one is based on a group of mutually consistent points in the cosmology of the Bhagavatam. • People in India in ancient times used to go in pilgrimage on foot from one end of India to the other, so they knew how large India is. • The reason behind its unrealistic distance unrealistics is that Jambudvipa doubles as a model of the heavenly realm, in which everything is on a superhuman scale.

The Bhagavatam portrays the demigods and other divine beings that inhabit this realm to be correspondingly large.

This figure shows Lord Siva in comparison with Europe, according to one text of the Bhagavatam.

Layout The layout of the jambudvipa as flat map strikes a resemblence with the London tube underground map , where we see that henry beck has increased the central area of the map so that the details can be shown better and is less cluttlered. same tehnique has been used by the artist of the jambudvipa painting where they have not retaiened much of tthe geographical area resemblance and have blowed up the central area of the map which consitsts of the jambudvipa island and its details.

Method of painting Gouache a method of painting using opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a glue-like substance.

Colour used.

Primary colours Blue- used to represent Water Yellow- the land mass Red & Green - Jewels Red - to demarkate regions

References Websites • Universe- vedas- http://www.krishna.com/universe-vedas • Illuminated manuscripts and jain paintings - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/ scripts-and-jain-paintings • Indian Culture- http://www.jambudvipa.net/indianculture.htm • Jain art- http://jainart.net/art-object-private-tags/jambudvipa • Virginia. eduart http://www.virginia.edu/art/pdf/wong-articles/11.pdf • British museum- http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online • Academia Edu- http://www.academia.edu/492308/Jambudvipa_apples_or_plums

Books - KMC Treasures of Jain bhandaras, LD Institute of indology 1978 New documentaries of jaina paintings, Dr. Modi Chandra, Dr. Umakant P Shah, 1975