Jain Art from India – The Peaceful Liberators
Vast amount of preparatory work had gone in to planning and arranging of this exhibition. Thanks to the active interest and enthusiasm of the Directors and members of V & A that this mammoth task became possible. Dr. Deborah Swallow, the then Curator of the Indian and S.E. Asian Collection and Dr John Guy who co-curated the exhibition deserve special praise and our sincere thanks for their untiring efforts in brining the exhibition to life.
How It All Started
This is what Dr Deborah Swallow said:
When a few years ago, Dr Pratapaditya Pal, Senior Curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, approached the Victoria and Albert Museum with a proposal to co host a major international exhibition of Jain art and asked John Guy to co curate the show, the Museum’s Indian and South East Asian Collection welcomed the idea with enthusiasm. The proposal was completely in accord with the Museum’s aim to increase knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of Indian art, and the Museum’s Director, Dame Elizabeth Esteve Coll, who had herself promised the late Prime Minister of India, Mr Rajiv Gandhi that the V&A would host just such exhibitions, was in strong support.
Jainism and its rich artistic traditions were too little known outside India, too little understood Unlike the arts of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, which had been given extensive coverage over the previous decade, Jain art had only been represented by smaller selections of works in larger more general exhibitions. Furthermore, the Museum knew that there was in the UK a vibrant and active Jain community. eager to establish a better understanding of Jainism and its significance in today’s world. A major exhibition might well be a way of creatively and constructively drawing these interests together.
All too often a good idea remains only an idea. The route from initial proposal to the opening of an exhibition was long and yet the timescale that would have to be achieved was already, in international exhibition terms, very short. A great deal of enthusiasm, energy, good will and generosity, if not a few miracles, would be needed. For the UK’s national museums are only partly funded by government grant.
Museums need to seek external funding for their new galleries, exhibitions and special programmes and the costs of a major exhibition are high. There were two possibilities either to seek a single commercial sponsor, or to launch a more broad based appeal. It was soon decided to take the second, more complex but more enriching option. The Museum sought the advice of our most supportive High Commissioner for India, His Excellency Dr. L.M. Singhivi. Without hesitation he introduced the Museum to Mr. Ratilal Chandaria and the Institute of Jainology. The IOJ in turn readily offered to serve as co ordinator and soon involved both the broader UK community and the international Jain community. At the same time, the Nehru Gallery’s key supporters at the Diamond Trading Company, Mr Edward Dawe, himself a trustee of the V&A, Mr Gary Ralfe and Mr lan White offered warm assistance.
By early 1994, the academic work on the exhibition was complete, and Los Angeles County Museum had succeeded in winning critical grants towards some of the central costs of the exhibition from the US National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts. With other local support all was ready for the first showing at Los Angeles in the autumn. In the UK much remained to be done. During the summer the Jain community was deeply involved in a number of international events. The gathering of many Jains in London in late July to celebrate the publication of Tatvartha Sutra as part of the International Sacred Literature Series, the installation of an image of the Tirthankara Mahavira at the High Commissioner’s residence, and the award of a Belgian Knighthood to Shri Vijay Shah, provided an appropriate occasion to announce publicly the plans for the exhibition and the gracious agreement of Her Majesty the Queen and His Excellency the President of India to be its joint Patrons.
During the autumn a distinguished group of people agreed to become members of the exhibitions Honorary Council, Advisory Committee and Executive Committee, and by the spring of 1995 the task of fundraising began in earnest. At the first meeting of the committees in February the representatives of De Beers pledged support in March; Mr Ratilal Chandaria, Chairman of the Fund raising Sub committee, met senior members of the Jain community in East Africa, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong; in early April at a meeting in Bombay Mr Harshadhbhai Kapadia, Mr Ashok Jain of the Times of India Group, Shri Shrenikbhai Kasturbhai, Chairman of the Shwetambar Murtipujak Jain Boarding and Shri Dipchand Gardi of the Shwetainbar Murtipujak Jain Sangh, Mr Manharlal Shah of the Sthanakvasi Jain Sangh, all pledged support. Back at the V&A at a function in the Museum’s Morris and Gamble Rooms on May 10th graced by His Excellency Dr. Singhvi and Mrs Singhvi, Sir Nevil Macready, a senior trustee of the Museum and Baroness Flather, a member of the exhibitions Honorary Council, the Navnat Vanik Association of the UK announced substantial financial pledges from association members. The Oshwal Association of the UK announced both financial support and the loan of a beautiful model marble temple at a function at the V&A on May 26th.
The groundswell had begun and the subsequent months saw additional substantial pledges of support from a wide variety of sources from the Jain Community world wide, including Hong Kong, East Africa, Canada, Singapore, Japan, South Africa, Belgium and Seychelles, and of course from the UK, from international corporations working in or with India, from the diamond community both Jain and non Jain in Belgium, India and the UK, and from other supporters and friends. June 22nd saw another significant moment the arrival of the first major cheque. ceremonially handed to the V&As Director by James Deas., President of the Nortel Asia South Pacific and witnessed by HE Dr. Singhvi, Mr Clarence Chandran. President of Nortel Latin America, Mr Ratilal Chandaria. Mr Rati Shah, Mr Vinod Udani, Mr Bipin Mehta. Mr Jim Close, and other members of the V&A staff. Meanwhile the exhibition has continued its successful tour of the United States, moving from the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth to New Orleans.
The V&A Museum believes that this exhibition will continue to increase understanding of Jainism and the Jain artistic tradition. But the V&A will always remember The Peaceful Liberators Jain Art from India with gratitude to the Institute of Jainology and the international Jain community for the generous and unstinting co operation which made the London showing both possible and unique.
Dr. Deborah Swallow was the Curator of the Indian and S.E. Asian Collection at the V & A Museum at the time.
| This is what John Guy had to say: |
| The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is to hold the most comprehensive exhibition ever presented of the artistic tradition emerging from the Jain religion. The exhibition, organised in co operation with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is having its only European showing at the V&A from 22nd November.
The purpose of the exhibition ‘The Peaceful Liberators’ is to present before Western audiences the remarkable artistic achievement of Jainism and its contribution to world religion. In the exhibition the principal themes which found expression in the art of Jainism are presented. These include the role of the Jina image, the significance of the deities, the ritual and narrative role of the illustrated text, and the Jain cosmology as seen through the cosmological paintings. The place of pilgrimage in the Jain tradition is illustrated through monumental pilgrimage paintings.
There is much in the historical development of Jain art which has parallels in the religious art of both Hinduism and Buddhism, but there are other aspects, particularly in relation to the role of the image in worship, which diverge fundamentally from the other traditional Indian religions. In the exhibition stress is placed on the unique contribution of Jainism to the Indian religious and artistic tradition.
Jainism grew out of the teachings of a series of historical teachers who became ‘enlightened’ and hence liberated beings, the most recent being Mahavira (c.599 527 BC), the 24th Jina, a near contemporary of the Buddha Sakyamuni. The historicity of Mahavira’s immediate predecessor Parsvanatha is widely accepted and he is believed to have lived in the 7th-6th century BC. The existence of the preceding 22 Jinas remains beyond historical verification but is embedded in the Jain pantheon and together forming the 24 Jinas of this particular age.
At the heart of the Jain teachings is the commitment of non violence (ahimsa) to all living creatures, including insect and plant life. A natural consequence of this philosophy is strict vegetarianism and a tendency to go into occupations which do not interfere with nature such as trade, commerce and banking. This commitment to living in harmony with nature is witnessed in a 15th century Jain Yantra painting in which the artist is celebrating nature in all its forms. The life of the Jain laity is guided by what is known as The Three Jewels: enlightened knowledge, enlightened faith and enlightened conduct. Meritorious enlightened conduct include the ‘giving way’ of a part of one’s wealth, in keeping with the other key principle of Jainism, aparigraha or non possession. The principle guides the life and behaviour of the laity, and is a strict principle of those who choose the ascetic path or renunciation and their quest to become a Jina.
This philanthropy can take many forms, and some are prescribed: these include endowing the making of images, erecting and supporting the renovation of temples, and commissioning of holy books. Over the centuries this has led to a large and sustained production of Jain religious art, a rich selection of which is presented in this exhibition. What is perhaps most remarkable about this exhibition is the variety of regional styles and iconographic diversity to be seen, when associated with a religion that is popularly seen as only having 24 largely indistinguishable Tirthankara images.
Early Jain theologians opposed the worship of images and in all probability it was pressure from lay followers who generated the demand and pressure for actual images to assist in meditation and worship, or, more accurately in the Jain context, to serve as a ‘model’ of behaviours for those venturing along the moksha marg, the path to enlightenment.
The creation of the Jina image is among the earliest recorded figurative representation in Indian art. Inspirational references from the 3rd century BC record the worship of Jina images. Archaeological evidence makes it clear that images were in demand from an early period; certainly image worship was well established in the Kushan period (1 st 3rd century AD).
Inscriptions from this period record that monks were encouraging members of the laity to commission images of the Jinas, possibly following the Buddhist practice of performing meritorious acts. Inscribed sculptures survive from both Mathura and Allichatra recording the patronage, much of which was undertaken by female laity and nuns. For example, an inscribed 2nd century Jina image in the exhibition was commissioned by a female lay devotee named Datta on the advice of her teacher and installed in 157 AD at a Vodva stupa, Kankali Tila, Mathura. An early text the Padmacarita of 473 AD extols the merits of building Jina bhavanas (image houses) and installing images of Jina, though this practice was not universally welcomed by early Jain teachers.
These dissenting voices were troubled by the inherent contradictions between image worship and Jain orthodox teachings: the Jina is a liberated soul, freed of his material body and resides in the celestial abode, represented as the heavenly assembly hall (samavasarana). As such, the Jina is no longer of this world and can be represented as a silhouette cut out, a positive void. It is a magical diagram (Yantra) of a perfected being or siddha.
Despite this professed ‘emptiness’ of images of the Jina, they nonetheless are designed following iconographic (i.e., symbolic) and iconometric systems. The latter system prescribes the measurements and proportions of images. It is the strict observance of these conventions, laid down in sastras (technical manuals) which account for the remarkable degree of uniformity in Jain images. It is prescribed in Hindu silpasastras that an image (painted or sculptured, citra or murti) must have an inner life force, prana. Although not required theologically, Jain images often display this quality of inner breath or life.
The strict rules of measurement and proportion are clearly illustrated by the 12th C. seated Santinatha from the V & A (fig 4). This remarkable large scale, solid cast image depicts the 16th Jina enthroned on a jewelled cushion and surrounded by celestial attendants. He sits in a yogic meditation posture, with his hands gently resting, one on the other.
An iconometric drawing of the type used by artists in the preparation of Jina images illustrates the standardisation of the meditating Jina. In this case, the identification of Parsvantha is made through the cobra hood and cognizant mark on the base (of a cobra). The standardisation of Jina images is such that most Jinas cannot be distinguished. Their specific identification, if it is provided at all, is usually in the form of a cognizant mark on the base of the image. Although all Jinas are of equal standing in Jainism, it is clear from the ratio of extant images of different Jinas that some attracted greater devotion than others. Santinatha is an obvious example, much venerated both by monks (as the preserver of Jainism at a time when it was in danger of extinction) and by the laity who turn to him as the Jina most associated with averting calamities and ensuring calm in the world as his name suggests: santi = ‘peace’, natha = ‘lord’. Only two Jinas are physically distinguishable from the other 22 without the aid of their cognizant marks, namely Rishablianatha, the first Jina recognisable by his uncut hair, and Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, always represented with a cobra canopy. Jainism has a second theological difficulty with image worship.
The Jinas was intended to serve as reminders to the faithful of the possibility of liberation; i.e., they served as role models for both the Jain laity, guiding their ethical code of living, and for the aspirant Jina, providing inspiration and a reminder that spiritual liberation is an attainable goal. As a detached soul, removed from this world, the Jina is incapable of responding to a devotee’s prayers or requests. This inability to be interventionist, to respond to the prayers and offerings from the faithful, sets Jina images apart from both all Hindu and most Buddhist deities, who can be called upon to intercede in both spiritual and material matters in response to ritually correct approaches by a devotee. For any religion to fulfil the emotional needs of its followers as a popular religion, an element of divine intercession seems a necessary ingredient.
Jainism got around this difficulty by granting various subordinate deities, nature spirit especially (Yakshas and Yakshis), the power to grant boons and favours to the faithful. Yakshas and Yakshis are typically depicted in composite images as subordinate figures, smaller in scale, attending the Jina. Their rise to the status of semi autonomous deities, represented as independent images, was probably linked to this role as spiritual benefactors. The interventionist role of subsidiary in Jainism is well illustrated by the goddess Ambika, the yakshi of the Jain Neminatha. An evocation to Ambika makes clear the protective role of the godess:
“May Ambika, of golden complexion riding on a
lion and accompanied by her sons.. protect the
Jaina sangha from obstacles”
These benevolent deities had assumed an important position in the Jam cosmology, fulfilling a strong social need which was beyond the gift of the Jinas. In this their role differed fundamentally from that of the Jina images. It is clear that the minority religions such as Jainism and Buddhism were unable to ignore the deep rooted popularity of certain folk deities. This pattern of borrowing of deities from one religion to another, followed by gradual assimilation, is very characteristic of the early centuries AD. Either through a conscious obliteration or simply loss from folk memory, the common ancestry of many rival deities was in time no longer acknowledged. Other borrowings from the Brahmanical pantheon illustrate the Pan Indian nature of early religion imagery in India, with deities being appropriated from rival faiths. The very popular Sarasvati, Goddess of Knowledge and Learning was a much beloved goddess worshipped by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains alike. There is another aspect of Jain ritual practice which was of great importance from at least the early centuries AD. This relates to the use of mantras and other sacred diagrams. This practice finds its earliest recorded expression in Jain art in the ayagapata stone of the early Kushan period (1st 3rd century AD). It is apparent that these ritual diagrams were the origin of many later cosmological depictions, including the highly schematic rendering of the Jain celestial realm, samavasarana to be found in many of the sculptures and paintings in the exhibition.
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