Yesterday, the Victoria & Albert Museum, in conjunction with Jainpedia and with support from the Jain Art Fund, held a fun day of activities, storytelling and a very creative art and craft drop in design workshop.

This event held with  dual objective of widening the awareness of Jainism through the media of JAINpedia and to promote the awareness of the rich cultural heritage held in the UK to the Jain community at large.

Several enjoyed the story-telling by Seema Anand, who has an entertaining and interactive style that keeps the audience glued to their seats. The audience moved on to the Sackler Centre and completed worksheets  which gave a brief description of  Jainism and asked people to hunt for plants and animals from not only within the JAINpedia display, but also the rest of the museum. The participants were spoilt for choice, and created some beautiful manuscripts from dung paper, lentils and various craft items.

The JAINpedia volunteers invited museum visitors to the various events, sought feedback from the attendees and carried out tours of the display. They helped children identify animals from within the Jain manuscript collection,  and at the same time told them some of the stories within the manuscripts. Children were fascinated, and adults were intrigues by the history, concepts and culture of Jainism from the tours.

A successful event, with not only more events to look forward to, but also a highly detailed multi-media website, with Jain manuscripts digitized, described, translated and explained with the aid of various contextual articles by Jain scholars like Nalini Balbir.

The JAINpedia display is on at the Victoria & Albert Museum until December 2012, and if you would like to book a tour of the display, please contact us on the below details.

The JAINpedia project has a newsletter with up-to date news and events, if you would like to sign up for it, or even sign up to be a volunteer or support us in any other manner please also contact us at the below details.

JAINpedia Contact:

Bansri Mehta

Email: info@jainpedia.org

Tel: 020 8236 1011

www.jainpedia.org

On 15th April, JAINpedia held a series of events at the British Library to celebrate Mahavir Jayanti, the festival marking the birth of Mahavira, the founder of present-day Jainism.  The day’s events included storytelling sessions by highly acclaimed story-teller Seema Anand, a dance recital in the Bharat Natyam dance form, performed by founders of the Prakruti Dance School, and art workshops run by artist Sophie Dave.

The day was a considerable success, with over 500 people, Jains and non-Jains, turning out to participate.  The classical dance recital filled the foyer of the British Library, with many passers by stopping to watch the whole performance, which involved four dances.  The storytelling and art workshops attracted a large audience of parents and children, enabling younger and older generations to learn more about Jainism.

These events tied in with the ongoing exhibition of Jain manuscripts in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery in the British Library, which also had an influx of visitors throughout the day.  JAINpedia volunteers were on hand giving people free guided tours of the exhibits.  Many who took the tours had several probing questions about Jain culture and teachings, and left wanting to find out more about Jainism in their own time.

I was one of the many volunteers helping out with the running of the events, for example counting the visitor numbers or directing people to the displays.  I also had a go at giving some of the tours, which was a fairly daunting experience.  I had been briefed on the manuscripts when I visited the display the weekend before, so knew the content, but this didn’t make having to explain it to others in plain English much easier.  This was especially difficult since many Jain stories are filled with metaphors, and it is often the morals and ethics behind the stories that are important, rather than the somewhat fantastical stories themselves.  Getting other people’s insights into the meaning behind these Jain texts is one of the reasons I am looking forward to the eventual launch of the JAINpedia website.

There was also a need to tailor the explanations to the audience.  For some visitors, seeing the Jain manuscripts was the first encounter they had with Jainism, so the tour had to start with the basic principles of Jainism, such as Ahimsa (non-violence).  By contrast, one of the families I gave a tour to were already very knowledgeable about Jainism, so for them I tried to concentrate on the historical and cultural significance of the manuscripts (e.g. the fact they are written on handmade paper) rather than the religious significance.

Volunteering for JAINpedia has nonetheless been very fulfilling.  Once I gave my first tour, I realised just how much I had learnt about Jainism through my brief involvement with the project.  Also, given the epic scale of the undertaking – a five-year project to digitize 5,000 images – I feel quite lucky to have been around at the right time and place to take part.  I know that JAINpedia are still looking for new volunteers, so would thoroughly recommend volunteering, especially to people like me that started out with a superficial understanding of Jain heritage and culture.

Those of you who have been following the JAINpedia project will know that there are simultaneous exhibitions of Jain manuscripts currently going on in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Library.  The collection in the British Library is, in my view, the far richer of the two because it covers a greater time period (c.13th to c.15th) and has a wider range of exhibits in terms of art style and content – it is the largest collection of Jain artefacts outside of the Indian sub-continent.

The British Library display was originally due to end on 30th April 2011, but fortunately this has been extended to run until 30th June 2011, so there is still a chance to see it.  Why not even take a trip to the British Library over the upcoming Bank Holiday weekends?

By Jayesh Navin Shah

JAINpedia volunteer

Note:Anyone wishing to volunteer for the JAINpedia Project should contact the Project Manager, Bansri Mehta via email at bansri.mehta@jainpedia.org

The Institute of Jainology (“IoJ”) held a reception at the British Library on 22^nd March 2011. The reception celebrated the JAINpedia display in The John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library.

The event began with JAINpedia guides taking the guests on a tour of the magnificent display of the Jain manuscripts, which are being displayed in the most prestigious of galleries in British Library.  The guests then had an opportunity to meet each whilst enjoying the appetizing Jain snacks.

Professor Nalini Balbir, Ahimsa Award winner, JAINpedia content director and co-curator of the JAINpedia display at the British Library was billed to address the guests with a talk on the Jain collection at British Library after the snacks.

Visiting Samanijis, Pratibha Pragyaji, and Rohit Pragyaji graced the event with a wonderful recital of the Namokar Mantra before the lecture began.

Subject for Prof. Nalini Balbir’s talk was Jain treasures of the British Library. She started with the explanation of the reason for commissioning of the manuscripts in the ancient times – it was considered as one of the various pious undertakings which helped with gaining religious merit. The desire to gain the merits was strong within the lay community resulting in large number of beautifully painted manuscripts and subsequently production of several copies of these.

The JAINpedia display of some 40 objects selected from the world’s largest collection of Jain manuscripts outside India,  comprises of manuscripts with beautiful calligraphy and brightly coloured wonderful paintings.  These include the Samgrahaniratna, the Kalpasūtra, the Uttarādhyayanasūtra, and very interestingly the Ādityavaravratakatha, a Jain Story from the Digambara sect, the only manuscript from this sect in the display.

The British Library is one of the leading global research libraries and holds well over 150 million items, in most known languages from a multitude of cultures around the world. The Library’s Jain collection is the most significant and largest outside of India, many sold or bequeathed by eminent scholars of the past. Prof. Nalini highlighted the history and importance about some of the Jain collections. To read the  full script of her lecture please click here.

The success of the exhibition and the interest shown in the collection by Jain community members in  particular and wider public in general, has persuaded the British Library to extended the exhibition until the end of June 2011, A  great opportunity to for families and children is being presented to the public on Mahavir Jayanti  Day on 15^th April 2011, when  JAINpedia in conjunction with The British Library are holding a day long family event. Activities include craft workshops for children, a dance recital, story-telling sessions and display tours.

To find out more about the project and its events please visit www.jainpedia.org or contact the JAINpedia team on info@jainpedia.org 020 8236 1001.

JAINpedia is a 5 year project taking Jainism into the 21st Century.  Besides a rich online website showcasing rare and sacred manuscripts, the project is conducting a series of temporary and travelling exhibitions, cultural events and educational activities at the partner institutions; the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the British Library (BL), the Bodleian Library and Wellcome Trust Library.  Further to this the project will digitise approximately 5000 pages from Jain manuscripts housed in these institutions, create a dedicated educational interface designed for schools and learners and will deliver an inclusive learning programme in schools and community settings.  Written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi and Gujarati, these manuscripts are vitally significant pieces of Jain heritage. The majority of the manuscripts are on paper, palm-leaf, and cloth (some dating back to 1200AD). Many of the documents are highly fragile and susceptible to damage through handling and exposure to light.

REACHING OUT TO A DIVERSE AUDIENCE

British Jain collections represent some of the most important in the world. These heritage collections are important because they are rare or unique cultural objects, and many are sacred objects to members of the Jain community. The information they contain is also of cultural importance. Access to them is therefore clearly important to the Jain community. The JAINpedia project will make accessible, for the first time, a range of cultural objects and artefacts relevant to the Jain religion and culture which will develop a strong sense of community heritage and pride.  Many of the objects in the JAINpedia display at the V&A and BL have never been on public display, thus by showcasing the manuscripts in galleries of national importance fosters a sense of ownership and cultural pride amongst the Jain communities of the UK.  It is of utmost importance to get the Jain community involved in this work as it develops a sense of community heritage pride and an understanding of this ancient world religion to a wider audience.   This will be done through outreach initiatives in local community centres, inter-faith venues, local museums, libraries and archives.

We hope to influence the mainstream by offering intercultural and interfaith learning opportunities to an artistic heritage they would not normally have exposure to and aim to collaborate with the widest sections of the mainstream public.  With this in mind we are expecting to bring new audiences to Jain artistic heritage and to examine what impact this will have. We will also be questioning the issue of whether we need to redefine heritage and whose story are we telling.  We will also look at what community heritage means to the mainstream and how as an organisation we respond to differing views of heritage.

We are planning training for teachers on Jainism and will run a series of INSET afternoons at LEAs throughout the country. These will be focused on the educational material produced through the JAINpedia project and will be led by a suitably trained staff.  We will also produce a DVD for public mainstream and voluntary sector workers providing an introduction to the Jain religion and community.

Research has been conducted and has concluded that the main beneficiaries of the project will be:

• The Jain community of Britain
• Mainstream schools and students who study a plethora of religions in the multi-faith community that is Britain today
• The general public of Britain who are interested in the wide range of cultures that make up Britishness in the 21st Century.

Further to this we hope to attract wider families with pre-school children, older people, the unemployed, young people and the disabled along with mainstream visitors to the holding repositories (BL, Bodleian Library, V&A and Wellcome Trust Library).

As part of our creative strategy we are opening up the national Jain collections to a wider audience. Care and sensitivity is required in order to deliver the correct message to people who would not usually visit Jain collections or events.  By providing specific cultural events we aim to open up Jainism as a major ancient world religion in a comparative way.  This in turn will foster an understanding of the customs and cultures the wider community would not usually have awareness of.

Building strategic partnerships with the libraries and museums is of vital importance as projects such as JAINpedia promote cultural diversity and equality.  Museums and Libraries need to attract a more diverse audience profile to their collections and events in order to develop basic skills and to promote lifelong learning.  Museums and libraries collate diversity figures which are reported upon and the public programmes often try to build in diversity as part of their general provision and services.

©V&A Museum, London. Indrabhuti Gautama Attains Perfect Knowledge. IS 46-50-1959

TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS

For many of the communities who cannot come to the institutional collections the JAINpedia Team are currently devising a travelling exhibition to be housed temporarily in religious venues, regional museums and libraries as well as community and arts centres across the UK.  The travelling exhibition has two main intentions which are to increase a general awareness in the beliefs and customs of Jainism and to highlight the work of JAINpedia by ensuring that visitors to the exhibition visit the JAINpedia site and accompanying websites, displays and related activity. The exhibition will be divided into six sections, which broadly follow the themes of the website; these include People, Principles, Practice, Places, Jainism Today and a Jainpedia section.  The text regarding these sections will be backed up by visual images and there will also be an interactive terminal for visitors to visit the JAINpedia website.

It is expected that the Jain community will be active in volunteering at the travelling exhibition locations across the UK and will be on hand to answer questions lead on creative heritage activities and promote diversity, tolerance and equality for all.   Along with this we will be working in schools and other locations nationally and hope to see the mutual benefits of collaborative working between the mainstream and the Jain community.  We will be evaluating all outreach work in  looking at how successfully.

the wider communities have worked with the specific Jain community and to set benchmarks and targets against this.

LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

We have been working closely with the various departments at the V&A and BL; these have included colleagues in curatorial, learning, visitor services, marketing and special events. Most of the previous events have been focused on family groups and young people.  The main aim of the events is to make learning informal and fun whilst at the same time developing analytical, behavioural and creative skills for life through gallery education by opening up the collections.  Such events have included traditional activity such as rangoli floor art popular in the Indian regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, interactive Jain stories, traditional musical recitals and craft workshops.  In June 2011 the V&A will be taking a coach load of visitors to the Potters Bar temple in conjunction with JAINpedia.  Members of the local Jain community will offer talks and tours of the temple, temple architecture plus the sacred shrines throughout the temple grounds. This event will prove to be a great learning opportunity for the visitors involved.  The main objective is that they return to the temple with family and friends and will be able to offer explanations on what they learned during their visit.

Children enjoying Jain storytelling at the V&A Museum on 14th November led by Seema Anand.

JAINpedia will be on display at the Nehru Gallery of Indian Art at the V&A until December 2012 and a series of further events are currently being devised to complete the project.  We are planning a Jain manuscripts symposium along with hands on jewellery making from Jain symbols and images found in the display working alongside ‘hard to reach’ groups of young people from local London boroughs.  Further to this we are running tours of the JAINpedia displays at the V&A and BL.  Volunteers play an important part in the project and they have been trained to deliver and conduct tours of the displays to the public and Jain community as and when required.

The BL is an important strategic partner as the Jain collection is the largest and most important outside the Indian Sub-Continent.  The exhibition will enhance understanding of Jainism and the Jain religious, artistic and cultural heritage.  They state that ‘the main aims of the exhibition is to show how the British slowly discovered the Jain heritage in India and to display the patterns of interaction between the British and Jains over the last two centuries’. The library is aware that the ‘diasporic Jain community of multi-cultural Britain is interested in the rediscovery of its tradition and is keen on explaining its value to wider audiences’.

JAINpedia at the BL aims to enhance understanding of Jainism and Jain religious, artistic and literary traditions.  It will explore issues of Jain identity and philosophy, which concentrates on and respects reverence for all life forms and to delve into the adherence of Ahimsa (non-violence).  The display also aims to examine how these concepts are preserved in Jain communities worldwide. Jainpedia is on display at the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library till 30th April 2011 in the first instance.

JAINpedia will also be on display at the Bodleian Library University of Oxford.  Oxford’s libraries are amongst the most celebrated in the world, not only for their incomparable collections of books and manuscripts, but also for their buildings, some of which remained in continuous use since the Middle Ages.  Among them the Bodleian, the chief among the University’s libraries, has a special place.    The Bodleian Library collection contains a significant holding of academic Jain material and manuscripts as it is one of the leading university libraries in the UK and Europe regarding such objects.   With this in mind we hope to display these through the JAINpedia exhibition which will be a representative example of the Libraries Jain manuscript collection and will be held at the library in 2012. It is expected that various academic issues surrounding Manuscriptology, Sanskrit, Graphology and Jain art and culture will be researched by curators and librarians at the Bodleian.  Jainism is a peace loving religion so it is ethical to look into such issues of concern and interest surrounding environment and ecology.  Jainism is in essence a religion of ecology, of a sustainable lifestyle and of reverence for life.  The religion’s entire emphasis is that of life constant with ecology.

Diwali at the V&A Museum

At present the JAINpedia Museum Consultant is in liaisons with the Wellcome Trust Library as they have a large collection of Jain manuscripts which are being digitised for the main project website but to date have not been able to hold a physical display in the collections due to the lack of space in the Wellcome Library.  Despite this issue they are hopeful that a display may be possible in the future and discussions regarding this are ongoing.  JAINpedia is a unique project which deals with issues of reaching new and diverse audiences by making the nations Jain collections accessible and understandable in an educational and interesting manner.  We are also looking at interfaith and intercultural dialogues within a wider society which respects the needs of all.

Magnificent Venue for the JAINpedia Visit

Jain Manuscripts & Paintings

The Institute of Jainology (“IoJ”) was delighted to receive His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London to view the JAINpedia exhibition and see the JAINpedia online digital resources.

The Prince is Grreted by IoJ Deputy Chairman

The Prince was greeted by Mr Paul Ruddock, Chairman of the V&A, and Mr Nemu Chandaria, Deputy Chairman of the IoJ and then introduced to the Directors of the IoJ and key staff at the V&A.
The JAINpedia project is a 5 year project launched by the IoJ in 2007 to make the Jain manuscripts in major UK collections more accessible through exhibitions and events, and a digitally rich website featuring over 5,000 images and contextual material.
Mr Nemu Chandaria commented, “the Jain community is grateful to His Royal Highness for visiting the JAINpedia exhibition. His warmth and interest in the project and the Jain community has made this a very special day for us.”

IoJ Deputy Chairman Leading H R H to the Nehru Gallery

JAINpedia Executive Director Welcome the Prince

Prince Charles visits the V&A to view the Jainpedia project

The Prince was guided through the V&A exhibition by curator Nick Barnard and JAINpedia expert Prof. Nalini Balbir of the University of Paris. He spent several moments discussing Jain cosmology and 15th century manuscripts featuring the lives of the Jain teachers. His Royal Highness was then shown how the manuscripts are made available through the JAINpedia site; its technical development partner being Kings College London.

Looking at the JAINpedia Website

Meeting the IoJ Directors & Their Spouses

Over 100 members of the Jain community were invited to meet His Royal Highness during the visit as well as stakeholders from the British Library, the Wellcome Trust and the Bodleian Library. After the visit, there were speeches by Beth McKillop, Deputy Director of the V&A, Mehool Sanghrajka Director of the IoJ and the JAINpedia Project and finally by Wesley Kerr, Chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund London Committee.

The Prince Viewing the Rangoli

JAINpedia Team Presented to the Prince

JAINpedia Team

Meeting the President of The Oshwal Association of the UK

Meeting the President of The Navnat Vanik Association of the UK

Project Stake Holders Awaiting Introduction. Mr Wesley Kerr Chairman HLF on the left

More Stake Holders in the ProjectProject

About the JAINpedia Project
The JAINpedia project was created by the IoJ following the successful launch of its publication ‘The Catalogue of the Jain Collection at the British Library by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.
JAINpedia is a project to create an online, accessible resource for the Jain community and beyond. This will be a first for Jain heritage as there is no other online public resource that has worked with the key holders of Jain artefacts in the UK or worldwide. Not only will the website be an extensive and highly detailed multimedia site of Jain Manuscripts, but it will have two main sub-sites called ‘Learn Jainism’ and ‘Jain Spirit’.
Learn Jainism, will provide educational resources for teachers using the images and text from the main site and will be a dedicated educational interface designed for schools and learners with materials for religious education lessons. Jain Spirit, will be a dedicated site for the community, with articles and event updates of the Project. The JAINpedia project now in its third year has exhibitions already running at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Library, and still to come at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

About the JAINpedia exhibition at the V&A
A display of finely illustrated Jain manuscript pages and paintings from India opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 14 May. Of these a large Jayatra yantra or Victory banner, consecrated at Diwali in 1447, is one of the oldest surviving dated Jain paintings on cloth. The illustrated manuscript pages on display include finely detailed pages of the 15th and 16th centuries from manuscripts of the canonical Kalpasutra and Uttaradhyayanasutra texts. They tell the stories of the 24 Jinas (spiritual victors) revered by the Jains and several illustrate the principles of non-violence and respect for all forms of life that are at the heart of Jainism.

Conservation of the Jain manuscript pages involved special research and treatment to avoid the use of animal glues in accordance with Jain principles.
The display continues until 31 December 2012.

About the Institute of Jainology
The Institute of Jainology (IoJ) was established following the first International Jain Conference held in London in 1983, when the need for an organisation to coordinate Jain affairs internationally was recognized. The Trust is administered by a Board of Trustees. Its centeres of operations are in London and in Ahmedabad, India.
Representatives of Jains worldwide met at Buckingham Palace, London in 1990 to present the ‘Jain Declaration on Nature’ to H R H Prince Philip. This event repositioned Jainism as the eight faith of the world and marked its entry to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
To find out more about the project please visit www.jainpedia.org or contact the JAINpedia team on bansri.mehta@jainpedia.org  020 82361001

PHOTO GALLERY

Above is a selection of the photographs that were taken during the visit by H R H The Prince of Wales. Click here to see the rest of the photographs taken by us on the day. Should you want a copy of any of the photograph please contact Ms Bansri Mehta at  Bansri.Mehta@jainpedia.org.

]]> http://www.jainology.org/1209/the-prince-of-wales-visits-jainpedia-at-the-victoria-and-albert-museum/feed/ 0 http://www.jainology.org/1173/jainpedia-celebrated-diwali-at-the-va-museum-london/ http://www.jainology.org/1173/jainpedia-celebrated-diwali-at-the-va-museum-london/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:55:37 +0000 admin http://www.jainology.org/?p=1173 JAINpedia celebrated Diwali at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London during the weekend of 13-14^th November 2010. The day was fun filled with educational activities for children and families as well as those in search for more knowledge about the culture and heritage of Jainism.

The celebrations kicked off with Shobhna and Pratima Haria creating a large ‘Rangoli’. This is a a traditional decorative folk art of India. The purpose of Rangoli is decoration and it is thought to bring good luck. Design-depictions may also vary as they reflect traditions, folklore and practices that are unique to particular area. The base material is usually dry or wet granulated rice or dry flour, to which Sindhoor(vermillion), Haldi(tumeric) and other natural colours can be added. Shobhna and Pratima began their work of art, depicting 6 of the 14 dreams of Queen Trishala on Saturday morning and took 3 days to finish their masterpiece.

Their steady and skilled hands filled the drawings meticulously with coloured powder. JAINpedia volunteers were on hand to explain the significance of Rangoli and the relevance of the particular pictures.

Dr Harshad Sanghrajka, the lead volunteer on the day explaing the Jain cosmology

JAINpedia display tours were conducted by volunteers every hour through the 2 days with over 1000 people having viewed the display. The JAINpedia volunteers captivated their audiences with the explanation of the the history and contents of the display.

A large Jayatra yantra or Victory banner on display is believed to have been consecrated at Diwali in 1447. It is one of the oldest surviving dated Jain paintings on cloth and combines exquisitely delicate painting with the numerals and syllables which gave it its power as a yantra or esoteric diagram.

Jain monks have traditionally been supported by a much larger lay community, who gained spiritual merit by commissioning manuscripts, which were then preserved in temple libraries. The illustrated manuscript pages on display were made for the Shvetambara sect of Jains in Gujarat and Rajasthan. There are finely detailed pages of the 15th and 16th century manuscripts of the canonical Kalpasutra and Uttaradhyayanasutra texts. Some are opulently decorated with blue and gold pigment while others retain the vibrant red and fine line characteristic of the earlier part of this period. They tell the stories of the 24 Jinas (spiritual victors) revered by the Jains and several illustrate the principles of non-violence and respect for all forms of life that are at the heart of Jainism.

Conservation of the Jain manuscript pages involved special research and treatment which avoids the use of animal glues in accordance with Jain principles. A series of fascinating illustrations from cosmological manuscripts chart the changes in Jain paintings in the 17th and 18th centuries. Finally, a large but highly detailed painting made in 1844 in Deshnok, Rajasthan, shows the Middle World of the Jain universe, where mortals dwell, and its intriguing island continents and seas. Very fragile, and bearing the scars of severe historical damage, it was specially conserved for the display.

On Sunday, the Victoria & Albert Museum organized a Diwali themed treasure hunt for the visitors. Families explored the galleries to find objects related to the story of Queen Trishala’s 14 dreams. They were given digital cameras by the museum, then worked with the museum’s digital artists to create a digital collage from their pictures illustrating their own dream story.

The highlight of the weekend was the two story-telling sessions by Seema Anand. Seema is a passionate and inspiring story teller. Whether her listeners are 9years or 90years, she has the capacity to transport them into her story world and hold them there. Story, according to Seema, is a physical skill and a visual art and her work is developed to include alternative aesthetic and cultural perspectives for all ages and capacities. The Nehru Gallery, where the story-telling took place was filled to the brim, and music from the dancers supporting the story-telling echoed in the galleries. The children were invited to take part in the story-telling making the event interactive and amusing for all. Seema’s stories were taken from the newly published ‘Jain Tales’ by Colin Hynson, a publication by the Institute of Jainology.

Seema Anand In the Middle of a Story

The Dancers

Commencement of Rangoli 'Carpet' Creation

Rangoli is an delecate art work

FCompleted Rangoli

]]> http://www.jainology.org/1173/jainpedia-celebrated-diwali-at-the-va-museum-london/feed/ 2 http://www.jainology.org/1160/jainpedia-exhibitions-at-british-library-va-museum/ http://www.jainology.org/1160/jainpedia-exhibitions-at-british-library-va-museum/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:52:33 +0000 admin http://www.jainology.org/?p=1160

Mahāvīra’s incarnation as a god in the Puśpottara heaven Kalpa-sūtra © The British Library Board

JAINpedia is a prestigious 5 year national project to create an online, accessible resource for the Jain community and beyond, taking Jainism into the 21^st Century.  Besides a rich online website showcasing rare and sacred manuscripts the project is conducting a series of exhibitions, cultural events and cultural events at partner institutions the V&A, British Library, Bodleian Library and Welcome Trust Library.
The British Library launched JAINpedia in the Treasures Gallery which opened to the public on 8^th October 2010  and will be displayed there till the end of April 2011.  The display consists of approx 40 objects from across the Library’s Jain collection and  is grouped as Sacred Text and further displayed in different sections these include Worship and Meditation, Lives of the Jinas, The Jain Universe and Jain Stories.  Depictions include The Jitakalpasutra, Worship to Sarasvati, Santinatha, The 16^th Jina in Meditation, Worship of the Jina Parsvanatha, Auspicious Dreams and Enlightenment of a Jina.
To further compliment the display a series of events to celebrate Mahavir Jayanti in April 2011 will take place these will include a family craft workshop, storytelling in the gallery and a lunchtime recital, there will also be a reception in March 2011.
Entrance to the library and the galleries is free. Please visit with your friends.
For further information please contact:

Rajiv Anand M.A
Tel-0208 236 1020
rajiv.anand@jainpedia.org
www.jainpedia.org

The Board of Directors of The Institute of Jainology are delighted that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will be visiting the JAINpedia project and website, at the Victoria & Albert Museum on 18th November 2010. Leaders of the Jain community and Project stakeholders will be present and will have an opportunity to meet His Royal Highness.

You can also be a part of this ground breaking project by attending the JAINpedia Diwali at the Victoria & Albert Museum this weekend, 13th and 14th November 2010.
The full programme of events being held this weekend is:

Rangoli Display
Date: 13-14 November 2010
Time: 10.00am – 5.30pm

JAINpedia Display Tours
Date: 13-14 November 2010
Time: 10.00am – 5.30pm

JAINpedia Treasure Hunt
Date: 14 November 2010
Time: 10.00am – 5.30pm

Jain Stories
Date: 14 November 2010
Time: 12.00pm & 3.00pm

JAINpedia is a 5 year project taking Jainism into the 21st century. Besides a rich online website showcasing rare and sacred manuscripts, the project is conducting a series of exhibitions, cultural events, and educational activities at partner institutions: the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Library, the Bodleian Library and the Wellcome Trust Library.
To find out more about JAINpedia, our events and museum tours please contact:
Email: bansri.mehta@jainpedia.org
Tel: 020 8236 1001

Event Banner

Institue of Jainology, London and Ahmedabad in conjunction with Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institue, Pune had organized a three day seminar on Manuscriptology from 1st to 3rd August at Vishwakosh Bhavan,  Ahmedabad.

This was a first ever seminar organized in India on Manuscriptology attended by both professionals and students of the subject. Over 230 professionals and students attended the seminar.

Prof. Dipti Tripathi, Director of the National Mission for Manuscripts, New Delhi inaugurated the seminar with an opening addressed. She started by commending  Mr Nemu Chandaria OBE and Padmashree Dr Kumarpal Desai to have conceived the idea of this seminar at a national level. It was sure to inspire more research work

Dr. Maitreyee Deshpande - Hon. Secretary of Bhandarkar Oriental Lights the Dip whilst Director Prof Tripathi Look on

She emphasized the need for research in manuscriptlogy as we need to understand the rich heritage from our ancestors.

She also expressed concern that there was very little research on ways of conserving the manuscripts.  Modern technology has enabled many conservation methods but no research has been undertaken seriously.

Both the Government and the private institutes have funding available to offer financial assistance and scholarship but sadly the researchers have not come forward to take this opportunity.

She was of the opinion that such seminars would certainly help bring about a deeper understanding of the subject and inspire interest in studying the manuscripts and also undertake research on manuscript conservation.

She concluded with commending the Institute of Jainology once again for the initiative and assured it and other Institutes that if they had proper infrastructure to promote such activities, financial assistance will certainly be available from the Government. In her conclusion she also referred to the work done by the Institute in creating an excellent catalogue of the manuscripts held in the British Library collection and the JAINpedia project to make the rare manuscripts accessible to lay people.

Officials Including Director Prof Tripathi on the Podium

The first session of the seminar was opened by Dr. Sudha Gopalakrishnan the former Director of the National Mission for Manuscripts.  In her talk she suggested that manuscriptology as a subject should be included in the University curriculum and appealed to the professors present in the audience to take this message home.
In the sessions that followed, there were 24 prominent speakers from Departments of History, Languages, and Philosophy from various leading universities. All were very enthusiastic to have had an opportunity to attend such a seminar and expressed their agreement to increase the level of both the studies and research in the subject of manuscriptology.

Several Heads of various departments at universities and institutes agreed to make available to both students and research graduates the photocopies of the MSS for research in Jain Agam, Religion, Art, History, Civilization, Medicine, Sculpture and so on.
It was very pleasing to note that new subjects in Manuscriptology were introduced by three MSS experts in the field, namely Dr. Niranjan Rajyaguru, Dr. Balwant Jani, and Dr. Mohyuddin Bombaywala.  The three new subjects were:
(1) Sant Sahitya: Manuscripts Research and Editing
(2) Charani Sahityani Hastaprato.
(3) Farasi Hastaprato: Sanshodhan and Sampadan

Some of the Audience

Dr. Kumarpal Desai and Shri Nemubhai Chandaria, Trustees of the Institute of Jainology announced the availability of a scholarship for post graduate research in MSS.

They also announced a competition to encourage the students attending the seminar to study and write on what had been discussed and proposed in the seminar.

The Institute can take justifiable pride in having not only pioneered fundamental research in the subject of Manuscriptology by having created the catalogue of British Library collection but also inspired further studies and research in to the rich heritage in India of the ancient manuscripts.

Several papers were presented amongst them, one by Mr Ranjiv Anand, IoJ  Consultant for the JAINpedia project. His paper is one of the papers published by V & A  for international distribution. A copy of his paper is repeated below. Other papers being published at the same time can be seen at:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/research/conferences/margins_to_core/index.html

Information available includes conference papers and notes, Christopher Breward’s conference reflections, speakers biographies, video’s and photographs.

The Role of Community Heritage – Rajiv Anand MA,    Museum Consultant

British Jain collections represent some of the most important in the world. These collections are important because they are rare or unique cultural objects, and many are sacred objects to members of the Jain community. The information they contain is also of cultural importance. Access to them is therefore clearly important to the Jain community. The JAINpedia project will make accessible, for the first time, a range of manuscripts and artefacts relevant to the Jain religion and culture and will develop a strong sense of community heritage through a series of exhibitions in the holding collections and associated events.

Jain material in Britain consists of approximately 4,000 unique manuscripts in various UK collections such as the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the Wellcome Trust and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Many of them have never been catalogued or put on public display and access to their host institutions is severely restricted.

Written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi and Gujarati, these are vitally significant pieces of Jain heritage. The majority of the manuscripts are on paper, palm-leaf, and cloth (some dating back to 1200AD). Many of the documents are highly fragile and susceptible to damage through handling and exposure to light.

The 39 Jain collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, relating to social and religious life will provide a valuable context to the manuscripts. It is of utmost importance to get the Jain community involved in this work as it develops a sense of community heritage pride and an understanding of this ancient world religion to the wider audience. This is done through outreach initiatives in local community centres, multi-faith institutes, local museums, libraries and archives. We are developing a travelling exhibition to complement the major exhibitions/collections where we will be hosting a selection of
community heritage events till 2012.

It is expected that the Jain community will be active in volunteering at locations across the UK and will be on hand to answer questions, lead on creative heritage activities and promote diversity, tolerance and equality for all. Along with this, we will be working in schools and other locations nationally and hope to see the mutual benefits of collaborative working between the mainstream and the Jain community. We will be evaluating all outreach work in looking at how successfully the wider communities have worked with the specific Jain community and to set benchmarks and targets against this.

We hope to influence the mainstream by offering intercultural and interfaith learning opportunities to an artistic heritage they would not normally have exposure to and aim to collaborate with the widest sections of the mainstream public. With this in mind we are expecting to bring new audiences to Jain community heritage and to examine what impact this will have.
We will also be questioning the issue whether we need to redefine heritage and whose story we are telling. We will also look at what community heritage means to the mainstream and how, as an organisation, we respond to differing views of heritage from the mainstream.
We are planning training for teachers on Jainism and will run a series of INSET afternoons at LEAs throughout the country. These will be focused on the educational material produced through the JAINpedia project and will be led by suitably trained staff.

We will also produce a DVD for public mainstream and voluntary sector workers providing an introduction to the Jain religion and community.

Research has been conducted and has concluded that the main beneficiaries of the project will be:

• T he Jain community of Britain
• Mainstream schools and students who study a plethora of religions in the multi-faith community that is Britain today
• The general public of Britain who are interested in a wide range of cultures that make up Britishness in the 21st Cent.
• Further to this, we hope to attract wider families with pre-school
• children, older people, the unemployed, young people and the disabled along with mainsteam visitors to the holding repositories (BL, Bod Library, V&A and Wellcome Trust Library)