10 Chapter 3
10 Chapter 3
10 Chapter 3
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These handwritten illustrated manuscripts are significant in understanding the
cultural, religious, political and social aspects of the Himachal.
The Academy signed the MOU with the Mission in May 2005. Since
then the MRC has been given financial support towards its whole MRC
related activities. Out of its total data contribution 12,199 have been web-
loaded till date. Dr. Sudarshan Vashisth was the first Project Coordinator of
the MRC and thereafter, Dr. B.R. Jaswal is continuing in the post.
35
Performance of the MRC
Officials 3
Private
36
The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives started collaborating with
the Mission as an MRC since September 2003. The survey in the state of
Himachal Pradesh has so far generated out 95, 628 data on manuscripts and
manuscript collections related to Buddhist studies, Vastu , Sangita , Darsana,
Chandas, etc. Covering 5 districts with the team of four scholars and one
official of the MRC, the MRC has surveyed and documented 22 institutes in
Himachal Pradesh. All the above mentioned data has been converted into
electronic format. The institute has conducted 25 outreach campaigns in
which more than 125 people participated.
The manuscripts are called "Pothis" in local dialects and paper rolls
and scrolls are termed as 'Chilthu'. A larger number of these manuscripts are
available with Brahmin families. As per tradition when joint families of Brahmin
brothers take separate possession of farni land, wealth etc. these Pothis are
also taken possession of by separate households and it is only after the
division of the Pothis that property, weather and land is divided amongst
brothers.
37
here many scholars invited Garhwali Brahmins to write these manuscripts.
The scholars inherited the skill of manuscripts from their ancestors, either
received knowledge from scholars who came to Himachal from Bengal, Kashi,
Kashmir, Punjab and other states, or learned about manuscripts if they went
to study out side the state. Some people from selected families even went to
Lahore to study.
This phase was the period of cultural spread when different artistic
forms were imbibed in Indian paintings. In the royal artistic creations, the
paintings based on epics were created on a large scale. Books with pictorial
descriptions were created on Indian works like Ramayana, Harivansh
Puranas and Rajamnama (Mahabharata), Nal-Damyanti, besides non Indian
historical works like Hamjanama, Diwan-e-Hafiz, Tutinama-Anware Suhaili
and Khamsa-e-Nizami etc. Complete manuscripts of these works along with
mutilated copies of some works are preserved in different museums in the
country as well abroad. Mughal art and paintings reached its pinnacle under
the patronage of Akbar and his descendent. The illustrations and paintings in
the manuscripts of the works of Padshahnama which was documented in the
reign of Shahjahan is an example of splendor of Mughal paintings and art.
The downfall of the Mughal art and paintings started during the reign of
Aurangzeb and with the death of Aurangzeb in the beginning of 17th century a
38
bloody battle ensured to capture the throne. Due to this struggle for power
and continues battles amongst Mughal rulers, the Mughal art, paintings faced
complete neglect.
The Pahari rulers also used to pay taxes to the Mughal rulers and
being Mansabdars they used to frequent the Mughal Darbars. Being valiant
warriors the rulers of Nurpur and Guler led the Mughal army with much skill
and helped out the Mughal rulers in their different battlefield ventures. This
interaction of the Pahari rulers helped them learn about the Mughal culture,
art and Mughal Durbars, while competing with their Mughal counterparts. The
Pahari rulers settled in the Himalayan who admired art forms also plains gave
state patronage to the artists who earned repute in the Mughal courts. As a
result due to the state patronage given by the Pahari rulers this art form
dwelled in these regions from the 17th century to 19th century. The art form
which developed due to the royal and state patronage of Pahari rulers is
famous worldwide today as "Pahari Paintings".
39
the significance of this manuscript, head in charge of the state museum in
Shimla, Dr. Vishwa Chand Ohri and another official Ajit Singh procured the
manuscript for the state museum in 1995. According to the leaflets of the
manuscript this work was scripted in 1575 in a place called Jaisinghpur in
Kangra. According to the painting style of Devi Mahatmaya, it can be
compared to another historical work with paintings i.e. Chaur Panchashika.
The Chaur Panchashika is a vivid example of the painting style prevalent in
the 16th century in Northern India.
Another work with illustrations and paintings obtained from Kangra has
also been famous for its paintings. Based on "Shahnama" which was work of
Persian writer Firdausi, this work was created by Kashmiri artist on request of
a Mughal official called Mirza Rustam. The manuscript of this Shahnama with
illustrations is now present at the Chester Bottij library in Dublin. These are
299 pages in this scripture and amongst these there are 41 paintings which
are illustrated in Kashmiri painting style and are influenced to a large extend
by the Persian art form and style.
This work of 1695, contains the information in Persian about the date of
its creation and the person on whose behest it was created as "Bee Tarikh
Shehar-e-Muharram Abal Haraam san 36 Jaluswia Mutabik-e-san 1107 Dar
40
Balad Kangra Bee Mauzib-e-Pharmaish-e-Mirza Rustam" meaning that it is on
the 11th day of the pious month of Muharram and the 36th year of the
kingdom i.e. 1107 Hijre that Mirza Rustam of Ngarkot requested to create
these paintings.^ However there is no reflection of local Kangra painting style
or the Devi Mahatmya paintings in the style of paintings in Shahnama. It
seems that the a Kashmiri artist Shahnama working in Kashmir produced this
work for the Mughal official Mirza Rustam and the work gives a reflection of
style of painting prevalent in Kashmir.
The poems in this work were written in Devnagri script and on basis of
the style of paintings this manuscript can be estimated to the period dating
back to around 1775.
41
series of paintings based on Satsai in the Guler style of paintings are amongst
the finest examples of Satsai. Another work based on Satsai is also available
in the Bhuri Singh Museum of Chamba, which depicts the paintings and
images of Radha and Krishna along with Manglacharan in the initial pages.
The artist named Lehru created paintings and illustrations on the basis
of Chandi Path. (Durga Saptshati) which Umed Singh used to read. Some
pages of this work containing the illustrations are present in the Bhuri Singh
Museum of Chamba as well state museum in Shimla. Another manuscript
named 'Swapna Darpan' with illustrations and paintings is present in Bhuri
Singh museum of Chamba. This book depicts in detail the good and bad
omens seen in dreams and the interpretation of these omens. On one side of
the page there are illustrations and paintings and the backside of the page
gives the detailed description. A series of replicas of 'Swapna Darshan' have
been created and the oldest copy is that of in Basholi style of painting.
Created around in 1700, a large number of pages of the 'Swapna Darshan'
are available in Boston museum of America
42
Recently copies of the 'Pahari Ragmala' have become famous in the
artistic circles, and unfortunately pages of illustrative manuscripts extracted
from museums have been sold in foreign markets. It is perhaps for the first
time that the copies based on theme of 'Ragmala' have come to light.
According to the text of the Ragmala, this work was present in the collections
of Royal family of Kangra. Illustrative manuscripts have been created on the
themes of Dashavtar, Chandi Path, Strotmala, Gajendra Moksh, Bhagwad
Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Tantra, Jyotish (astrology), Kamshastra etc.
in the Pahari style of paintings. These scripts and works are available in
collections of number of governmental, non-government are private
museums. These paintings and illustrations in the illustrated manuscripts were
usually created by the writers and creators of these works themselves. These
writers and creators used to room in groups and traveled in different states
where they created these works on him demands of their clients. These artists
and writers were skilled enough to prepare a number of illustrations, creative
texts and copies of the work.
Many of the writers and artists used to themselves create, write and
paint for the royals, ministers and rich people. Most of the illustrated
manuscripts do not have the names of the painters. But names of writers and
publishers were written at the end of the work.
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ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE HANDWRITTEN SCRIPTURES OF HIMACHAL
This work started growing slowly and took a form of a big movement
and groups of several scholars were involved in it. Royals and many rulers
also joined this movement. With emulation of Indian scripts a script was
developed in Tibet which led to the development of Buddhist literature in
refined literary language and to achieve this objective Sanskrit was used.
Indian Buddhist works and literature were translated on a large scale into
Tibetan language and this translation led to great achievements. Indian and
Tibetan scholars carried out the translation work jointly. The Tibetan
translators were called "Lochava" and Indian scholars were addressed as
Pandits. A Pandit does not necessarily mean a Brahmin. In short, the
Lochavas and Pandits were jointly called Lo-Pan. In the hierarchy after the
Lo-Pans was the 'Jhu-Dog' who carried out the corrections. And the
translation work was completed by the joint efforts of the three i.e. the
Lochavas, Pandits and the Jhu-dog. The edited document had the names of
these three in the end of the document.
44
The process of translation was quite distinctive. Foremost the Sanskrit
word was split and then the main parts of the word were translated which
gave rise to the unspoken word. In the process of translation the tenor or the
spirit of the word was not taken into consideration but the meaning of the word
was taken.
Vibhu Khyab-Dog
Apart from this names of persons and places were also translated, like
Ram Ga-Jed
Ravan D-Dog
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Rahul Sankrityan has done an incredible work in the present times by
bringing the original Buddhist Sanskrit scriptures back to India. Many works
had remained securely hidden in the temple of Tibet. Rahul Sankritayan went
to Tibet twice or thrice and was successful in getting the back the original
documents and got photographs of some.
46
started in the middle ages. In the Pahari scriptures the history of the Pahari
folks, religious inclinations and Bhakti were the thennes which were depicted
as illustrations. In the handwritten illustrative manuscripts there is a clear cut
reflection of different styles of paintings including Basholi, Guler, Kangra,
Kullu, Mandi, Nurpur, Garhwal etc.
The folk lore revolving around the themes of religion, culture, love have
been the basic essentials of Pahari paintings. The style of illustrated
manuscripts was present till the end of 19th century in the hills from Jammu to
Garhwal till Himachal Pradesh and these depict a transition in tradition and
development in the world of Pahari paintings.
There has been a long tradition of illustrated scripts in the hilly areas,
but the main reason for this has been the art lovers and artists were more
interested in miniature paintings and wall paintings. In contrast to this many
scriptures with illustrations and paintings were created in the museums of
these areas are a significant repository of illustrated manuscripts.
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with Tantra, medicines, agriculture, eroticism, cookery, folk traditions, history,
revenue and forest administration, etc.
Then, there are several texts of great importance for the national and
regional sociopolitical and cultural history still in the possession of people in
the Himalayan interiors. Most of these texts are not written on perishable
Paper, but on copper sheets. As such, these are known as the copper-plates
and not as manuscripts. However, the texts inscribed on these metal sheets
are of considerable importance.
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manuscripts, containing traditional Sancha Vidya, preserved by the hereditary
Brahmin families in the interiors of Shimla and Sirmaur districts in Himachal
Pradesh and the adjoining parts of Uttaranchal may also be important. There
are now only a few Brahmins initiated into Sancha Vidya.
Among these texts, the Kangyur and the Tengyur are of great
importance not only for their ethical and sacerdotal nature, but also for many
other reasons. For instance, in the Tengyur compendium, one may find texts
on various secular subjects, such as grammar, poetry, painting, logic, rhetoric,
law, medicine, chemistry, veterinary science, palmistry, astrology and
biographies. In the medical texts, translations of the Sanskrit medical treatises
of Charak and Agastya and, even the great Sanskrit classic Meghadootam of
Kalidas may be found. One may find the complete volumes of Kangyur and
Tengyur preserved in the Tengyur Temple at Kanum. These volumes were
block-printed in AD 1820 at Narthang, once the Nalanda of Tibetan world. The
Tabo chos-khor in the Spiti Valley also possesses a large collection of Bhoti
manuscripts, most of them related to tantra. Besides, the Kangyur and
Tengyur, one may find in the Bhoti manuscripts the Temia treatises, attributed
to Padmasambhava, the founder of Vajrayan Buddhism in Tibet. One of the
Terma treatises, named Pad-ma-kai-thang is important, for it contains
valuable references to the existence of Zahor kingdom around Rewalsar as
early as eighth century AD, which is also partly affirmed by the local
archaeological and circumstantial evidences.
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spoken only of the benefits that manuscripts accrue for us. But the scriptural
text has proved to be a mixed blessing for folklore.
The Sialkot paper has been largely used for the illustrated handwritten
Pahari manuscripts. The writing and illustrations were done on a single page
only. Wherever there was a need for illustrations or paintings, space was left
there. Many artists were involved in creation, illustrations and paintings that
were included in the handwritten illustrated manuscripts.
Foremost a scholar prepared the outline for the manuscript and guided
the others. Secondly, the scripter used to write the text on the paper. Then it
was the turn of the main painter and illustrator to draw, sketch the paintings
and illustrations in the handwritten illustrated manuscript. We can observe a
number of compositions in the Pahari illustrated handwritten manuscripts like:
• Text on one side and illustration with the text on the other side
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• Text on the upper side and illustrations below it.
Two more scripts related to this style namely the Bhagwat and Madhu
MaIti were illustrated in 1794 and 1799 respectively. The local style of painting
present in Sunder Shringar gets reflected in other Pahari scriptures also. The
name of the painter or the illustrator is not present in the script; however the
paintings or illustrations depicting human beings have a bearing of the style of
artist Bhagwan and are more or less similar to the miniature paintings
prevalent in Kullu during that time.
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MADHU MALTI
The folk lore of Mahdu and MaIti was so famous in the area that three
series were created in Kullu style of painting based upon it which are
preserved in Jagdish Mital museum in Hyderabad, Latifi collections and
Boston museum respectively.
BHAGWAT PURAN
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RAM CHANDRIKA
The only single copy of this hand written illustrated manuscript in the
Mandi style of painting is present in the collection of 'Himachal Lok Sanskriti
Sansthan' which has been established by Chandramani Kashyap. And this is
the handwritten illustrated manuscript of original 'Ram Chandrika' of Acharya
Kashav Das. In the manuscript the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth
and eleventh parts have illustrations related to the text at the end of the
respective parts.
In the sixth part some portions have been left blank and it becomes
clear from this aspect that the manuscript could not be completed due to
some reasons. The illustration in this manuscript related to different subjects
are as following:
The imagery present in this style depicts specialties which are very
similar to the court paintings present in the quarter of the 18th century. For
example the illustration of King Dashrath is similar to imagery of King
Surmansen of Mandi. The king is sitting down with his knees folded and the
turban (Pagdi) which was prevalent at that time depict the fashion and style
which was in vogue during the reign of king Surmaset (1781-1799). Apart
from this the shape of romantic long eyes prevalent during that time is also
present in the illustration.
53
Apart from this there are triangular patterns of points on the female
illustrations i.e. (Sita, Sakhi, Daasi, Shurpnakha) among clothes, and the
ornaments of forehead, ear, neck, hands are similar to those which can be
observed in miniature paintings of this period. Dating to the period of around
1790, this illustrated script has some specialties which are similar to the folk
art in spite of being paintings of the royal status. Sufficient background is
visible in these illustrations. The flat arched door of Ram's hut and simple
illustration depict the specialties of folk art. The state was going through
different political, social and financial upheavals and these get reflected in the
illustrative styles in these illustrated manuscripts.
The Sri mad Bhagwad Gita contains on pages 101 and 102 a centre of
rectangular illustration of 9X5.5cm. on the left Sanjay is sitting in front of
Drithrashtra. The rectangular floor is painted orange. The background has
dark green and the upper corner is painted orange. The illustration is covered
on the four sides by a violet border decorated by image of a creeper plant.
On the pages 289, and centre of 290, blue colored Vishnu is shown
lying on Sheshnaga in Kshir Sagar. Vishnu is attired in yellow and Lakshmi
sitting near feet of Vishnu. Four arms of Vishnu have been shown which
contain Shankh, Chakra, Gada and lotus. A lotus sprouting from Vishnu's
navel shows four armed Brahma sitting on it. Orange, red and dark green
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colors have been used in the background. Golden color has been used on the
borders. In the frontal portion the rectangular Kshir Sagar has been decorated
with large numbers of lotus flower.^^
GAYATRI DEVI
55
In the beginning of the script an illustration of Gayatri Devi has been
illustrated in which the Goddess is sitting in Kamlasan and sword, kamandal,
necklace (mala) and a bleu pillow four arms respectively and is attired in an
orange outfit. On the left side a Sadhu wearing an orange dhoti is standing
with his hands folded. A blue border around the illustration shows hurriedness
of the artist to complete the work fast.
The second illustration has been made after page 22 in the script. In
this painting, the four armed goddess is shown in the centre and two sadhus
each are shown on left and right side of the goddess who are standing with
hands folded in reverence. The sadhu on the left side is wearing an orange
dhoti. The sadhu standing on the right side is wearing a yellow dhoti and is a
young sadhu without a beard. Green color has been used in the background
and the foreground uses red color. There is a lack of delicacy in the illustration
in terms of color and line scheme.
The third illustration on page 47, shows the four armed goddess in
Kamalasan wearing an orange Lehnga and is sitting while resting on a blue
pillow. In the four-arms the goddess wields a sword, Kalash, flowers and
round mala respectively. A light blue color has been used to paint the body of
the goddess. A bearded sadhu, wearing a sky blue dhoti is standing on the lift
side of the goddess with his hands folded. Green colors have been used in
the background and red color has been used in the foreground.
56
wearing a dhoti and is standing with folded hands. Green color has been used
in the background and the foreground uses red color. The illustration has
been painted with blue color on all sides around the border. Light and dark
lines used on the borders indicate the hurriedness of the artist. A shioka is
there at the end of the script as following
^ ^ ^ I N ^ Mcidlef ^HHIklH | | ^ J f j I
VEDAS
PURANAS
AYURVEDA
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Brihnnighantu Ratnakar, Nasha Khandan Panchasa, Rasrajmahodhadhi
Meghnilas, Dhanwantri besides Nadi Gyanam Ark Prakash, Nageshnar Ras,
Jwaransh Ras, Navjeevan Ras and Chinta mani Ras and the Methodology to
prepare these.
ASTROLOGY (JYOTISH)
For general and special astrology different scripts like Jyotish Sarni,
Makrand Sarni, Karm Vipak Samhita, Tajik Neel Kanthi, Garb Kundii, Janam
Kundii, Lagan Kundii, Garbh Manorama, Jyotish Granth, Hanuman Jyotish,
Muhurat Chintamani, Panchang, Ramal Jyotish, Bhrigu Samhita Mahashatra,
Kerali Prashnratnya, Jyotishyam Sangrah, Tatkalik Bhrigu Prashan, Jyotish
Shastra Sopaan, Samudrik Shastram, Brihat Muhurat Sindhu, Hora Shastram,
Aayu Nirnaya, Jatak Chandrika, Prashan Chandeshwari, Prashan Bela,
Panchang Deepika, Shambhu hora Prakash, Tajik Bhushan, Choolichakra,
Jyotish Ganit, Prasooti Lagna vichar, Prashan Vidya, Lagan, Swapna
Pariksha etc.
STOTRA
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VAASTU
DHARAMSHASTRA
GITA
HISTORY
DARSHAN (PHILOSOPHY)
MUSIC
KAVYA (POETRY)
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The manuscripts available in district Shimla are largely in languages
like Sanskrit, Hindi or in local dialects and most of them are written in local
scripts like Tankri, Pabuchi, Pandvani, Chandvani, Bhattakshri etc. These
scripts were developed by scholars due to lack of major scripts here, hence
there are few people only who have knowledge of these scripts. Besides
these scripts Tankri has been largely prevalent here and was used with slight
alterations throughout the state and was used to write local dialect.
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END NOTES
12. http://www.namami.Org/resourcecentres.htm#nor
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