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Celestial Dancers, folio 5 (recto), from Brahman Rishabhadatta's speech, from a Kalpa-sutra
c. 1475–1500
- Medium
- gum tempera and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 11.5 x 29.3 cm (4 1/2 x 11 9/16 in.)
- Culture
- Western India, Gujarat
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift in memory of Herbert F. Leisy
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Manuscripts of the Kalpa-sutra are sacred embodiments of Jain doctrine. For this reason, they are worthy of beautification, adornment, and celebration by the inhabitants of heaven, such as the celestial dancers under cusped arches on this page.
The commissioning of a manuscript is believed to cleanse donors of the karmic effects of past wrongdoing. Wealthy donors gained prestige in the community with the costly production of a sacred manuscript.
