Jain Temple, Calcutta (c. 1890s): Art, History and Details

Jain Temple, Calcutta (c. 1890s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is A. W. A. Plâté Studio (Ceylonese).

The work and its context

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

With the rise of Calcutta (now Kolkata) as an urban center in the 1800s, a jeweler named Rai Badridas Bahadur Mookim (1833–1913) relocated there from the northern Indian city of Lucknow, along with many other Jain merchants. He ordered the construction of this temple, studded with colored glass, dedicated to the 23rd Jina Parshva. It was completed in 1867. His portrait sculpture is seen from behind in the forecourt, under the domed pavilion. The annual festival of Paryushan is celebrated at this temple, where manuscripts—especially of the Kalpa-sutra—are displayed, carried in processions, and read aloud to the congregation.

Object facts

• Title: Jain Temple, Calcutta
• Date: c. 1890s
• Creator attribution: A. W. A. Plâté Studio (Ceylonese)
• Culture: Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: platinum print
• Dimensions: Image: 28.8 x 24.2 cm (11 5/16 x 9 1/2 in.); Paper: 28.8 x 24.2 cm (11 5/16 x 9 1/2 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
• Collection: Photography
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2009.13

Collection credit

Jo Hershey Selden 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.