Page 234 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art
P. 234

PROPERTY OF A SOUTH AMERICAN COLLECTOR
          497
          A PAINTING OF A PURUSHKARA YANTRA
          INDIA, RAJASTHAN OR GUJARAT, 18TH CENTURY
          34Ω x 29¬ in. (87.6 x 75.2 cm.)
          $6,000-8,000
          PROVENANCE:
          Christie's New York, 17 October 2001, lot 204.



          This  richly  detailed  painting  is  a  yantra,  a  spiritual  diagram  made  to  aid
          meditation or prayer. While the yantra has tantric origins, it was incorporated
          into  Jainism  circa  1000-1300  CE.  This  form  of  the  yantra  depicts  a  map
          of  the  universe  in  the  form  of  a  cosmic  person,  a  common  subject  of  later
          Jain painting. The map shows the jinas on the face of the cosmic being, the
          heavenly realms on the chest, the earthly realm on the central disk, and the
          lower, hellish realms on the lower half of the body. The central circle depicts
          Jambudvipa, the continent of the woodapple tree, with the cosmic Mount Meru
          (or Sumeru) at its center. This central realm is dwarfed by the many layers
          of  heaven  and  hell,  suggesting  the  rarity  and  significance  of  being  human.
          While  the  denizens  of  the  heavens  know  pleasure,  and  the  dwellers  of  hell
          know suffering, only residents of Jambudvipa can know both and thus attain
          enlightenment.  Diagrams like this allow  the  worshipper  to  see the parallels
          between  the  microcosm  of  the  body  and  the  macrocosm  of  the  university,
          inviting  contemplation  of  its  incomprehensible  vastness.  For  a  comparable
          work, see P. Pal, The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, p. 231, cat. 103.





































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