Mahavir Jayanti - Gujarat has most `golden' scriptures of Jainism

AHMEDABAD: While the state's archives with its various religious and academic organizations are famed for its vast and diverse collection, experts believe the state may also have the most manuscripts which use gold leaf to adorn pictures accompanying the text - mostly in Ardha Magadhi or Prakrit.
As the Jain population in the state marks Mahavir Jayanti on Wednesday, experts said that the oldest surviving copies of “Kalpa Sutra“, the Jain religious text containing biographies of various Tirthankaras -most notably Mahavira -date back to the 16th century .Professor Ramji Savaliya, director of BJ Institute of Learning and Research, said these manuscripts from the 15th to 17th centuries are highly decorated with gold leaf illustrations. “Gujarat was a major centre for Jainism and cities such as Khambhat, Patan, Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Palitana had a number of community leaders (shreshthi) who commis sioned these manuscripts to gift to Jain monks or institutions.Thus, many manuscripts have survived,“ he said. He says writing with gold-laced ink has seen a resurgence in recent years.
Savaliya said “Kalpa Sutra Kavita“, from 1555 AD, by Gyanvimal Suri, is one of the oldest manuscripts using the Old Gujarati script showing the development of a new language.