Shantinatha Charitra

Shantinatha Charitra
Information
Religion	Jainism
Author	Ajita Prabhasuri
Language	Sanskrit
Period	1397 C.E.

Shantinatha Charitra is a Sanskrit text that describes the life of 16th Jain tirthankara Shantinatha. It was written in 1397 CE. This text has been declared as a global treasure by UNESCO.

History

This text was written in 1397 C.E. by Ajita Prabhasuri on paper-palm leaves and was inherited by late Muni Punyavijayji through his family. He then donated it to Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology in 1961.

Description

The manuscript talks about peace, non-violence and brotherhood and was composed and written in the late 14th century. This is the oldest example of miniature painting. These illustrations are beautifully drawn in multi-colour and are examples of a highly evolved style of painting. It contains 10 images of scenes from the life of Shantinatha in the style of Jain paintings from Gujarat. The text contains miniature paintings drawn in multi-colour. This is the oldest example of Jain miniature painting. The ink used in the manuscript is gum lampblack and white paint made from mineral silver. This heritage document is written in Devanagari script.

See also

• Shantinatha
• Jain art
• Jain literature

References

Source

• Sinha, Kounteya (June 2013). "Rare Jain text declared world heritage document". The Times of India. London. Times News Network (TNN).
• Vishnoi, Anubhuti (2012). "Tughlaq, Jain works vie for roll of honour". The Indian Express. New Delhi.
• Shāntinātha Charitra, UNESCO
• Sinha, Kounteya (2013). "Rare Jain text declared world heritage document". Times of India.
• INTERNATIONAL MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER - Shāntinātha Charitra (PDF), UNESCO

Further reading

Prabhācārya, Ajita (January 1998). Muni Indravijaya (ed.). Śri Śāntinātha Caritra. Bibliotheca Indica: A Collection of Oriental Works (in Sanskrit) (New Series, No. 1200 ed.). Asiatic Society of Bengal.