A Jain mandala depicting Parsvanatha, Western India, Gujarat or Rajasthan, 17th century

Christie's New York, 24th September 1999, lot 56.

It is extremely rare to find a Jain mandala of this size and quality, preserved in such fine condition. The mandala depicts Parsvanatha, seated amidst eight lotus petals enclosing syllables representing additional deities, all encircled by a river and devotees with hands folded in adoration, with two dancers with flywhisks and lotus flowerheads between pillored gateways, the registers on each side with Jinas, all above a group of seven dancers.

The mandala depicts Parsvanatha as the central deity, sheltered by the serpent king Dharanendra. This relates to the episode when Parsvanatha was attacked by a titan. A smaller mandala depicting Parsvanatha is preserved in the Museum of Replica Handbags s, Boston, accession number 67.836. See also a cosmic diagram depicting Parsvanatha in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 97.77. For a narrative painting depicting scenes from the life of Parsvanatha, see Pratapaditya Pal, The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1995, cat. no. 100, from the collection of Alvin Bellak.