Jain Community Views on Objects in the Collection

Jain Community Views on Objects in the Collection From April to September 2006, seven advisory groups were held with different faith community groups. The aims of these were to consult with the

communities that the V&A collections were relevant to and see what reactions

the members of the advisory groups had about the items. The participants were asked to select from groups of pictures of V&A objects and prioritise what items struck them most. These could be for personal reasons or how important they

were from a cultural or faith point of view, artistically or whether they still had relevance to their lives today.

Interior of the entrance to the main Jain Temple Dilwara on Mount Abu, by William Carpenter

'I chose the interior of the main temple at Dilwara at Mount Abu because I have been to the location twice and would not miss the chance to visit again. The temples of Mount Abu are exquisite examples of Jain architecture with their

finest carvings. It is believed that artisans who worked in the construction of

these temples, especially the carvings, were paid in gold equal in weight to the marble dust carved in their work. 'It is an amazing place. As a location Mount Abu is so peaceful - but the temples of Dilwara are something that you can't get out of. Once you get in you don't want to get away .'

Harshad Sanghrajka

Cusped Arch of a Jain Temple

'I have chosen the cast arch which was found on the site of the Jain temple in Palitana. The arch is a very important part of the Jain temple, it is supposed to

welcome the pilgrim as such and in this particular arch I can see that the deities are conducting some type of celebration. I think this type of celebration is

normally occurs when a Tirthankara is born or when a particular ceremony needs to be done for a Tirthankara.' Dinesh Shah

Parsvanatha

'I chose the statue of Parsvanatha in the standing pose because it is a very attractive piece depicting the 23rd Tirthankara of the current era. This is an

example of a Digambara icon. I have a modern sitting version of the Tirthankara Parsvanatha at home. Tirthankara Parsvanatha stands out as unique in the set of 24, because of the seven cobra canopy above his head. The cobra -

Dharanendra - has a popular story related to the past birth of Parsvanatha.' Harshad Sanghrajka

'I chose it because I found it simple and elegant and, in that sense, authentically Jain and distinct from other Indian iconography.

'To my understanding it is the key to Jain philosophy in that there is a simplicity and austerity and reflexivity within the philosophy. There are layers of that, but they depend upon the curiosity of the observer, so the same thing with this

image. You can spend hours looking the Parsvanatha and discover that, in some sense, the truth lies within. The sense of alert meditation, which is the type of

posture, is not something that you do when you are sleepy but something to do when you are very alert. The posture is perfect, it shows a very good understanding of human anatomy.

'It is very beautiful. Simple and uncluttered, that is how I see Jainism as well, that is actually its essence, it is uncluttered.' Atul Shah

Jina Rishabhanatha – the first Tirthankara

'I've selected Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara. It is a beautiful piece and is very peaceful. Being the first Tirthankara it is given more importance.

Everybody knows about Rishabhanatha, I myself do not know the names of all the Tirthankaras but the first and the last. At home I have a Mahavira and also a Rishabhanatha statues in bronze.' Jyoti Chandaria

Panel with Sammeda-sikhara Pilgrimage

'I have selected Sammeda-sikhara because I went there in 1999 and I think it is one of the best pilgrimage places for Jainism. There are 20 of the Tirthankaras it is believed they reached moksha from those hills. And you have to walk up

and down the hills and the atmosphere is just unbelievable, very magical. You could literally see it, the colours almost changing in the sky. It's quite tiring and there are 20 wind shrines where the footprints of the 20 Tirthankaras area are shown and there is only one temple to Parsvanatha. I think this image shows beautifully the whole of Sammeda-sikhara. It is one of the best pilgrimage places if you haven't been, I recommend that you go.' Raju Shah

'I have selected it because I would like to visit the place and I have not been

there and it is an important place where most of the Tirthankaras have attained Nirvana. Most Jains wish to visit the place once in their lifetime and people who are not able to make it would be happy seeing Sammeda-sikhara and visualising that they are already there.' Jyoti Chandaria 'I chose Sammeda-sikhara because symbolically it summarises Jain philosophy in a beautiful way as nature is a huge proportion in this image. By nature we mean environment or mountains or hills or whatever. Secondly it also

symbolises the struggle of life itself, the ups and downs of life. Sometimes there are threats as well. There are pictures of tigers so there are challenges in the

pilgrimage of life and ultimately salvation, which is at the top, represented by the Gods of the little mini temples. It requires effort to reach the top, life

requires effort to achieve liberation, it requires effort and perseverance. The

reality is that pilgrimage was a very difficult thing for a long time because the journeys were arduous, the transportation was not there, there were jungles, threats, bandits along the way. Pilgrimage is central to the Jain tradition - to all religious tradition - for the Jains these kind of symbolic representations are very important. Atul Shah

Parsvanatha being attacked by Samvara

'I have chosen the Parsvanatha, which is 23rd Tirthankara, being attacked by, it says, Samvara. I am not sure. He was attacked by what is known as Kamat

and all the Tirthankaras have yakshas and yakshis, which are the male and female guardians.

'What is happening is, when the Parsvanatha is being attacked by Kamat, Dharanendra and Padmavathi (yakshas and yakshis) come to his rescue

because Kamat is trying to drown Parsvanatha by having a torrential rainfall. So what they are doing is building a canopy on his head and trying to rescue

him. The most important part from my point of view is that amongst all the

deities Padmavati is the one that is worshipped most, she is the easiest one to approach. So in India the highest number of temples will be for Parsvanatha but you will see the one that is always being worshipped is Padmavathi.' Dinesh Shah

Game of Snakes and Ladders

'The reason I chose it is because this is a very contemporary image and I feel with museums it is important to make connections with audiences, especially the younger audiences and children. Sometimes contemporary objects have

the power to draw them in and then they may explore the other objects. This is something that people identify with as snakes and ladders and it is also a very visually beautiful image.' Atul Shah 'There are said there are 80 types of sins in Jainism and that approximately comes to that number here so I think each box signifies a particular type of sin. We cannot read what is written there but one can really go up, but one can also go down because of his pride or misdeeds. So this is, in fact, a daily

reminder to any worshipper that, unless he has humility, the state of Nirvana is not that easy. One can see that one can reach the state of Nirvana right at the

top because the ladder goes up there but there are so many pitfalls on the way as well. This is my interpretation of this picture.' Dinesh Shah

'I chose the game of snakes and ladders because, for me, it really links religion and life and provides a guide explaining morality and a means for religious

instruction. It also feels very much more interactive and fun and the possibility of it being turned into an educational resource also appeals. I have played a

contemporary version of the game which actually pulled together elements of different religions around the world. It was produced in India and that was really, really wonderful.' Aanal Chandaria

'It is a way of life and with the good karmas you come up and with the bad karmas you go down. It is a good way of teaching the children - it's more

realistic about good and bad actions of daily life. We have this game at home.' Jyoti Chandaria

The Birth of Mahavira

'I selected the page from the Kalpasutra Sutra manuscript, the birth of Mahavir, because this is very typical Jain art where they are showing the projecting eye,

which is totally unique to Jainism really, it is not in any other art forms in India and also here they show Trishla, the mother, with the baby Mahavir, together with the auspicious symbols which represent Jainism.' Raju Shah