Folio 141, from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya: Text (recto); Monk Holding a Flower Venerated by a Lay disciple (verso) (1287): Art, History and Details

Folio 141, from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya: Text (recto); Monk Holding a Flower Venerated by a Lay disciple (verso) (1287) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Palm leaf was the preferred material for sacred texts before the 1400s in India. The text here was often appended to the Kalpa-sutra, the most sacred book of Jainism. This story concerns the life of a Jain teacher named Kalaka, a prince who developed the ability to work magic after he become a monk, inspired by the teachings of a holy man. The painting on this page shows a monk clad in white, indicating his affiliation with the Shvetambara (“white clad”) branch of Jainism. It is the second to the last page of the manuscript and includes the beginning of the colophon, which contains information about when and where this manuscript was produced.

Object facts

• Title: Folio 141, from a Kalpa-sutra and Story of Kalakacharya: Text (recto); Monk Holding a Flower Venerated by a Lay disciple (verso)
• Date: 1287
• Culture: Western India, Gujarat
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.6 x 33 cm (2 3/16 x 13 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1971.127

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.