Prajnaparamita flanked by two bodhisattvas, folio 187 (recto), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra) (Sunday, September 14, 1119 (

Prajnaparamita flanked by two bodhisattvas, folio 187 (recto), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra) (Sunday, September 14, 1119 (year 239 of the Newar Samvat in the month of Ashvina)) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In the center of the page is a seated goddess of wisdom, named Prajnaparamita, who personifies the content of the text itself. A red and white bodhisattva also attend her on either side. This manuscript, consisting of 188 double-sided folios, was calligraphed by a scribe at a monastery in northeastern India, commissioned by a monk from Nepal. Judging from the style of the paintings, they are the work of Nepalese artists.

Object facts

• Title: Prajnaparamita flanked by two bodhisattvas, folio 187 (recto), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)
• Date: Sunday, September 14, 1119 (year 239 of the Newar Samvat in the month of Ashvina)
• Culture: Eastern India, Bihar, Vikramashila Monastery. Painting: Nepal, Kathmandu
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf
• Dimensions: Leaf: 5.3 x 54.3 cm (2 1/16 x 21 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Nepalese Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1938.301.187.a

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

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.