Pilgrimage Maps of Shatrunjaya

Variable in size and rich in detail, these painted maps depict the pilgrimage circuit at the sacred Jain site of Satrunjaya (modern town of Palitana in Gujarat). Such compositions are therefore generally referred to as Satrunjaya Pata.

The key purpose of these paintings are to provide a panoramic view of the key shrines, the pilgrimage route and details of significant features and episodes along the devotees path. They thus often served as surrogates for those – often aged or infirm devotees - who were unable to visit the sites. Their display on festivals and special occasions, viewed by large congregations of priests and devotees, provided the same merit as having visited the site.

Both the textiles, dating from the early and mid- nineteenth century, are fine examples of large congregational patas – possibly commissioned by an important monastery or shrine. The artist depicts the topographic context of Satrunjaya hill with its two ridges. The first ridge is dominated by the main temple complex of Adinatha whilst the other is the setting for nine smaller temple complexes patronised by Jain merchants. A new temple complex was established between the two ridges around c.1825, which is a used as a key point of reference for dating such patas. According to the Satrunjaya Mahatmya, a medieval pilgrimage text glorifying the site, King Kumarapala was the builder of the Adinatha temple in c.1213 and its consecration was conducted by the famous Sage Hemachandrasuri. The site overall comprises sixty five temples, over three hundred small shrines and close to five thousand images.

The painters of the three patas depict the pilgrimage route from the point of view of the devotee’s experience rather than a topographic expression of the actual site; despite this, these examples show strong geomorphic coherances. Earlier examples (Pal, 1994) are often even more diagrammatic with a propensity towards creating abstract cosmological patterns drawn from the Jaina texts and related cosmic symbolism; topographic accuracy was clearly of no significance. In all these patas, the pilgrimage can be seen to begin at the bottom of the hill in the lower foreground. Pilgrims arrive on foot, horseback, carts drawn by elephants or horses, or palanquins and commence their journey to the top of the hill by foot, flowing the winding path up and paying respects to the various shrines or features enroute. They then encounter a fork in the path allowing for two alternatives - to either proceed to the left to the older complex of Adinatha, or to the right hand side, to the new complexes. The pilgrimage circumabulatin draws to a close when the pilgrims return to their starting point along a route depicted on the right hand side of the patas.