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New Documents of Jaina Paintings
Moti CHANDRA UMAKANT P. SHAH
INTRODUCTION
REFORE the treasures of the Jaina Bhandaras were partially made
available to scholars, almost nothing was known about the history of painting in Western India roughly from 1100 A.D. to 1550 A. D.
The history of these Jaina Jñana-Bhaņdāras is closely associated with the progress and conservation of learning in Western India. Their foundation is attributed to a big famine which occurred in the fifth century as a result of which the majority of Jaina monks died and the sacred lore of the Jainas suffered terribly. Therefore, in order to save the Jaina lore from complete extinction some steps had to be taken. A council under the presidentship of Devarddhigani was summoned in circa 453 A.D. at Valabhi and, with the consent of the monks assembled there, the Jaina canon was committed to writing. However not much is known about the progress of book writing in the following centuries. But there is every possibility that the Jñāna-Bhandaras were founded; and these became the custodians of this sacred literature.
However, one thing is certain that by the tenth century Jaina monks had realised the great educational value of the Jñana-Bhandaras. Their founders took great pains to explain to the intelligentsia the
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