COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
(Jain Culture)
Date:
1850
Short Title:
(Cosmological Diagram - The World of Mortals.)
Publisher:
(Jain Culture)
Type:
Separate Map
Obj Height cm:
80
Obj Width cm:
80
Note:
Date estimated. From a description of a similar Jain painting at the Johnson Museum at Cornell University: "This large painting consists of a map-like rendering of the middle world, one of three worlds that comprise the Jain universe. Located between the celestial realm and the lower world of the damned, this middle world is where mortals and all sentient beings live and is the place from which liberation becomes possible. The composition takes the form of a series of concentric circles representing continents and oceans. In the center lies the continent of Jambudvipa, location of India and Mount Meru, surrounded by two oceans and two-and-a-half more continents. The oceans are filled with various aquatic creatures, while the continents contain humans, animals, rivers, and land features, including the five cosmic mountains, shown along the horizontal axis of the painting as yellow disks with pairs of multicolored, arch-like forms. Enshrined Jinas occupy the vertical axis of the continents and also appear in the four corners of the painting." Our Jain map is similar, it also depicts Jambudvipa with the region of Mahavideha, bounded north and south by mountain ranges with Mount Meru at its center and "elephant tusk" shaped mountains encompassing the regions of Uttarakuru to the north and Devakuru to the south. At the lower part of the map is the bow-shaped region of Bharata, representing India itself. For the Cornell painting, see http://museum.corne…
World Area:
World
Subject:
Religious
Subject:
Pictorial map
Subject:
Celestial
Subject:
Data Visualization
Full Title:
(Cosmological Diagram - The World of Mortals.)
List No:
12047.000
Series No:
1
Publication Author:
(Jain Culture)
Pub Date:
1850
Pub Title:
(Cosmological Diagram - The Map of Jambudvipa.)
Pub Reference:
History of Cartography, Volume 2, see Joseph Schwartzberg, chapter 16; The Jain Cosmology, C. Caillat and R. Kumar cf Pi42/3; cf V&A number CIRC. 91-1970.
Pub Note:
Date estimated. Painted in gouache on a large fabric square.
Pub List No:
12047.000
Pub Type:
Fabric Map
Pub Type:
Manuscript Map
Pub Maps:
1
Pub Height cm:
80
Pub Width cm:
80
Image No:
12047000.jp2
Authors:
(Jain Culture)
Link To Source
(Cosmological Diagram - The World of Mortals.)
