Information The Art of India Jain Cosmological Paintings Jain art depicts the cosmology and philosophy of Jainism, an esoteric liturgy contemporary with Buddhism (6th century B.C.). Jain cosmographers envisioned the world as a diagram of a Cosmic Man or Purshkara Yantra. The area above the waist was the celestial world and the lower area was the infernal world. In the middle of this diagram was a disc shape, sometimes called the Jambu-dvipa or Land of the Rose Apple Tree, which was partly inhabited by humans. The paintings were created by priests and mystics as symbolic of scientific, historic and religious concepts relating to a closely knit moralistic system and guide to behavior.

Jambu-dvipa Circa 1700

Jambu-dvipa 17th Century

Jambu-dvipa Circa 1800

Purushkara Yantra

Circa 1800

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