Manuscript of the "Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses"

ca. 1160

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

This manuscript — considered a physical embodiment of the Buddha's wisdom — is both an object of learning and one of devotion. Devotees study and recite its text, believed to be the Buddha's own words. The illustrations, which depict Buddhist deities and events from the Buddha's life, enhance the manuscript's sacred power.
Hundreds of manuscripts like this one were produced in eastern India, an important hub for Buddhist scholars and pilgrims. At some point, a visiting devotee brought this manuscript to Nepal, where the covers were made centuries later.

Title Manuscript of the "Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses"

Artwork Date ca. 1160

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Indian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Ink and opaque watercolor on palm leaf

Dimensions 2 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (5.7 x 47.0 cm)-sight

Classification Manuscripts

Department Asian Art

Credit Gift of P. Jackson Higgs

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 27.586.105A

Markings

Signed Scribe Dharaka, from the town Ghoshaligrama

Inscriptions Colophon with donor inscription starts at the second line in the right-most section after the lotus design marker on folio 249, verso. Records manuscript's donation by a nun named Mahashribhadra in the seventeenth regnal year of king Madanapala (ca. 1160 CE). Also records name of scribe, Shri Dharaka of the town Ghoshaligrama. Postcolophon dated Nepal Samvat 807 (1687 CE), probably after restoration, records worship and suggests a re-donation or a re-dedication of the manuscript.

Provenance

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Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Lee, Sherman E. "A Manuscript and a Bronze from Nepal." Bulletin of the DIA 21, no. 8 (May 1942): pp. 66-70 (ill.).

Kim, Jinah. “Emptiness on Palm Leaf: A Twelfth-century Illustrated Manuscript of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā." Bulletin of the DIA 82, no. 1/2 (2008): pp. 76-91.

Kim, Jinah. “Unheard Voices: Women’s Roles in Medieval Buddhist Artistic Production and Religious Practices in South Asia.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80, no. 1 (March 2012): pp. 207-213.

Kim, Jinah. Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult. Berkeley, 2013, pp. 55-56, 67, 78, 86, 263.

Kim, Jinah. Garland of Visions: Color, Tantra, and a Material History of Painting. Oakland, 2021, pp. 122-126, (ill. fig. 3.9) p. 124.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Indian, Manuscript of the "Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses", ca. 1160, ink and opaque watercolor on palm leaf. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of P. Jackson Higgs, 27.586.105A.