A Monk teaching his student, 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 of the Jain religion as well as the rules that monks should follow.

The illustration on this page depicts a monk instructing a younger disciple who sits in front of him. Between them is a folding book stand upon which rests a manuscript. Religious texts were often read upon such stands, not only in South Asia but in parts of Southeast Asia as well.

This page derives its elongated horizontal format from earlier South Asian manuscripts that were written on long narrow strips of palm leaves. The red circle in the center of the page recalls holes for the binding cord by which the palm leaf manuscripts were held together.