Background
The moving love story of Prince Ḍhola and the young girl Māru is a folk ballad from western India known in many oral and written versions. The lovers are separated and finally reunited after many adventures.
Jain monks, who are fond of all types of stories, have copied it many times and are therefore partly responsible for spreading it around India. It is a story with a rich pictorial tradition.
The author of this version is the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipujak monk Kuśalalābha Upādhyāya, who wrote it in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in 1560 CE (1617 VS). He was affiliated to the Kharatara-gaccha, one of the most numerous monastic orders in Rajasthan.
Glossary
- AsceticSomeone who withdraws from ordinary life to meditate and practise physical hardships in order to advance spiritually. Jain ascetics or mendicants beg for food from devout lay followers and wander the land.
Also used as an adjective to describe the practice of rigorous, even extreme, physical hardships in the belief that it leads to a higher spiritual condition. -
CECommon Era
The period of time starting with the year when Jesus Christ was traditionally believed to have been born. Using CE is a more secular way of dating events in a multinational, multi-religious world. - JaisalmerA city in the northwestern state of Rajasthan in India.
- Kharatara-gacchaSubsect of the Śvetāmbaras, chiefly found in Rajasthan and Mumbai and established in the 11th century.
- RajasthanThe largest state in India, in the north-western part of the country.
- UpādhyāyaPreceptor or tutor. One of the Five Supreme Beings, who is worthy of being worshipped by ordinary Jains.
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VSVikrama-saṃvat
Often abbreviated, Vikrama-saṃvat is the calendar associated with Emperor Vikramāditya. It begins in about 56 BCE so the equivalent date in the Common Era can be calculated by subtracting 57 or 56. Based on Hindu traditions, it is a lunar calendar often used in contemporary India.
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 14687
- Author:
Kuśalalābha Upādhyāya
- Date of creation:
composed in 1560, this copy created in perhaps 18th to 19th centuries
- Folio number:
70 verso
- Total number of folios:
117
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
Rajasthani / Gujarati in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
20 x 14.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Ḍholā-Marū story
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 14687
- Author:
Kuśalalābha Upādhyāya
- Date of creation:
composed in 1560, this copy created in perhaps 18th to 19th centuries
- Folio number:
70 verso
- Total number of folios:
117
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
Rajasthani / Gujarati in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
20 x 14.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Background
The moving love story of Prince Ḍhola and the young girl Māru is a folk ballad from western India known in many oral and written versions. The lovers are separated and finally reunited after many adventures.
Jain monks, who are fond of all types of stories, have copied it many times and are therefore partly responsible for spreading it around India. It is a story with a rich pictorial tradition.
The author of this version is the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipujak monk Kuśalalābha Upādhyāya, who wrote it in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in 1560 CE (1617 VS). He was affiliated to the Kharatara-gaccha, one of the most numerous monastic orders in Rajasthan.