Jaina Sculptures in Indian and World Museums

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. The prominent museums: i). National Museum, New Delhi. ii). Indian Museum, Calcutta. iii). Prince of Wales museum, Bombay. iv). Madras Museum, Chennai. 3. Museums of eastern region. Bengal, Bihar, Orissa. 4. Museums of northern region : Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab (Pakistan), Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. 5. Museums of central region : Madhya Pradesh. 6. Museums of western region : Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan. 7. Museums of the southern region : Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. 8. Discoveries of twentieth century: i). Hoard of bronzes from Tharad (Banaskantha). ii). Vasantgadh bronzes. iii). Prominent Jaina epigraphs. 4. Discoveries reported by the Archaeological Survey of India. 9. Foreign museums : i). Museums of Europe. ii). American museums. Index.

"Soon after the dawn of Jainism on Indian sub-continent, which happens to be its cradle-land, the image worship was introduced in the faith. These articles of the religious faith were established in many of the Jaina shrines in the country. But consequent to the onslaught of the foreign invaders, several of the religious edifices had been destroyed and the vandalism of the sculptural art became quite rampant. The artefects that could be saved from vandals were protected by individual and Government efforts and were housed at several places. Besides other sources, the images of Jaina Tirthankaras, Yaksas, Yaksis, Vidyadevis and other deities were no doubt preserved in the religious shrines which were worshipped by the people, but a good number of them found their way into the Government and private museums in India and abroad.

"The present work highlights the presence of Jaina sculptures in Indian and foreign Museums, which has been divided in nine sections. The first Chapter deals with the genesis and evolution of Jainism in the country and the start of the making of the images. Chapter-II deals with the presence of the Jain sculptures in the four prominent Museum in India viz. The National Museum, New Delhi, Indian Museum, Calcutta, The Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay and the Madras Museum. Chapter-III. Highlights the presence of the Jaina sculpture in the Eastern region (Bihar, Bengal, and Orissa), Chapter-IV. Northern region (Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh), Chapter-V. Central region (Madhya Pradesh), Chapter-VI. Western region (Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra) and Chapter-VII. The Southern region (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu). The book has been provided with a large number of illustrations for the benefit of the readers.

"Chapter-VIII. Describes the new discoveries of Jain artefects of the twentieth century through various sources including the Archaeological Survey of India. Chapter-IX. Highlights the Jaina artefects available in the foreign Museums. The work will, therefore, be of considerable interest both to the scholars and researchers alike." (jacket)

[Shanti Lal Nagar also wrote Composite Deities in Indian Art and Literature, Indian Gods and Goddesses and The Indian Monoliths.]