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Lot 1841
Two Jainist Yantra
Estimated Value:
1.200 € - 1.800 €
Schätzpreis:
1.800 €
Description:
Rajasthan, 15th/16th c. or later and Western India, c. 17th/18th c.24,5 x 28 und 75 x 68
I: The circular yantra in the form of an eight-petalled, stylised flower shows the sacred syllable hṛīṃ in the centre, highlighted by golden paint. Arranged on it are the twenty-four jinas, each with a different body colour. On the right side of the ligature, the jina Pārśva is placed with a serpentine bonnet and is the only one standing. Viewed as a whole, the yantra is designed as a stylised vase with a reduced foot, decorative loops on the sides and two tendril-like leaves with a flower in between. The eyes on either side of the spout are a stylistic device used mainly by the schools of painting in Rajasthan. Two pairs of gods are seated in the upper corners, which can be assigned to the mythical, semi-divine serpentine beings (Sanskrit: nāga) due to the snake bonnet or snakes as attributes and companions. A five-headed serpent flanks the worship ceremony of a Jain monk kneeling in front of a small altar with footprints of a saint at the lower edge of the picture. Another monk is placed in a shrine in the lower left corner. The painting style against a red background with blue colour inserts (so-called "secondary background") refers to the West Indian painting schools of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The design of the depicted figures also follows the convention common there and resembles the well-known miniature paintings of book art, which were produced there in large numbers, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries. II: The circular diagram is a stylised representation of an assembly hall (Sanskrit: samavasaraṇa, literally: "assembly" or "gathering"; an inscription in the marginal area accordingly names saṃosaraṇa) which, according to Jain tradition, was erected by the gods to provide the Jina with an appropriate place for his first sermon after attaining omniscience. The plan view shows the crenellated concentric walls around a raised plinth in the centre of the structure from which the Jina preaches to the four cardinal directions. The seat of the Jina is marked by a red coloured area, on which the sacred syllable hṛīṃ is inscribed in golden ink. The circular walls divide the structure into several areas where the gods, humans and animals gather to listen to the teaching of Jina. Access is through schematically indicated portals that run through the building on all four sides to its centre. The depiction of the sacred syllable hṛīṃ instead of the preaching Jina follows a tradition according to which his preaching did not take place through words but through the diffusion of a divine sound (Sanskrit: divyadhvani). Accordingly, the entire teaching of the Jinas is manifested in the sound, which is why divyadhvani is regarded by the faithful as the source of Jainist tradition.
From an important private collection in northern Germany, collected mainly in India from the early 1950s until the 1980s
