Gotama, the chief disciple of the Jain teacher Mahavira, from a manuscript of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual)

The life stories 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 that occurs during the rainy season. Kalpasutra manuscripts typically begin with a section in which various teachers and holy figures are given praise, and it is from one such section that this page comes.

Gotama, the chief disciple of Mahavira- the founder of the Jain religion-sits upon a throne, holding a string of prayer beads in his right hand. This page derives its elongated horizontal format from earlier manuscripts composed of long, narrow strips of palm leaves. The three red circles across the center recall holes for the binding cords by which these earlier manuscripts were held together.

A Sanskrit inscription at the upper-left corner of the page identifies the subject of the image as Gotama. This inscription is an instructional note to the painter, as scribes typically completed the text of the manuscript first, leaving a blank area for painters to fill in later.