The birth of the Jain teacher Parshvanatha, from a manuscript of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual)

The life stories of some of the twenty-four Jain teachers are among the subjects contained in the Kalpasutra, an important text still recited by Jain monks in an annual festival during the rainy season.
This page depicts the birth of the twenty-third Jain teacher, Parshvanatha, shown here nestled in the arm of his reclining mother, who is attended by a female servant. Parshvanatha is also the subject of one of the sculptures to your left.
This painting on paper derives its elongated horizontal format from earlier manuscripts written on long, narrow strips of palm leaves. The red circle in the center of the page recalls the holes for the binding cords by which such earlier manuscripts were held together.