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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
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Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
53 Bhandarasa and had employed seven hundred scribes to copy out religiouus books. Some of these were written in gold letters and were destributed to libraries at Patan, Cambay, Bharuch, Surat, Ahmedabad, Channi etc.
It will be apparent from the above references that the Jains encouraged learing which resutled in production of a large number of illustrated or unillustrated MSS. Naturally to cope up with the increasing demand for writers, the community of scribes grew up repidly
Writing about the Jain scribes, Muni Shri Punjavijayji mentions that we come to know about the scribes and their details through several colophons (the end of any MS has details of the book, its date of copying, the name of the donor the name of the scribe etc) of MS. These colophons reveal that the Jains patronised the Kayasthas, Brahamans, Nagars, Mahatma Nayaks, Bhojaks and Mathen painters for several generations. They belonged to a special occupational caste and tried their level best to please the Jain shresthis by writing and 2. Kumarapala Pratibodha (Gaekwad Oriental servies) Borada vol 14.
P. 96-97. 3. Also see, Upadeshatrangini. P. 140.
Muni Sri Punjavijayli, Bharatiya Jain Sramana Sanskriti ane Lekhana
Kala (Gujarati). Sarabhai Nawab. Ahmedabad. 1950 5. Moti Chandra and Karl Khandalavala An illustrated Manuscript of the
ranyaka Parvan in the collection of the Asiatic Socety Bombay. 1974. Shridhar Andhare. Chronology of Mewar Paintings. Agam Kala Prakashan, New Delhi, 1987. P. 39, 43.
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