A VERY RARE SWETAMBAR JAIN INVITATION SCROLL. This is a ‘Vintee Patrika’, literally meaning a formal and ceremonial invitation letter, sent to religious heads. This rare and elaborate scroll has been painstakingly hand painted by local artists under directions of the ‘Swetambar Tapagach Sangh’ for His Holiness Shri Pujya Jinendra Suriji Maharaj, a great Jain saint, inviting him to stay and conduct the four months ‘Chaturmas’ in their town during Vikram Samwat 1845 (Jain calendar) that is circa 1782 AD as per the Gregorian calendar.
This practice of all Jain saints camping at one place for four months during the monsoon months is compulsory, and it is a ritual to invite the saints collectively and accordingly a formal invitation is extended on behalf of the local Jain community.
In this particular instance, a very important and senior saint has been invited and accordingly the community has commissioned a very elaborate ‘Vintee Patrika’.
The scroll depicts; various Tirthankaras and Apsaras, along with the auspicious fourteen dreams of Trishla (the mother of the 24th Tirthankara - Lord Mahaveer) and other cosmic and celestial figures, with a painting of a Mahaveer Temple and a Srinathji Temple; the scroll also depicts a Jain sadhu & sadhavi delivering their sermon.
There are very few surviving scrolls of such fine quality.