Birth of Mahavira, from a manuscript of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual)

Also known as the Book of the Paryusana Festival (Paryusanakalpasutra), the Kalpasutra is an important text still recited by Jain monks in an annual festival that occurs during the rainy season. Among this sutra’s various subjects are the life stories of the twenty-four teachers (tirthankaras) of the Jain religion.

The illustration on this page depicts the birth to Queen Trishala of the last tirthankara, Mahavira (lived probably 400–300 bce). Seen here is the infant Mahavira in his mother’s arms. Before her son’s birth, Trishala had fourteen auspicious dreams, which were interpreted by sages who foretold that her child would be a universal sovereign or a spiritual leader. Although written on paper, this page retains the elongated horizontal format of traditional South Asian manuscripts that were made of long, narrow strips of palm leaves. The red circle in the center of the page recalls holes for the binding cord by which palm-leaf manuscripts were held together.