An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE)
A Sanskrit manuscript of the <i>Prajñāpāramitā</i> or Perfection of Wisdom in eight thousand verses, now in the Cambridge University Library, Add.1643, is one of the most ambitiously designed South Asian manuscripts from the eleventh century, with the highest number of painted panels kno...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Jinah Kim |
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| description | A Sanskrit manuscript of the <i>Prajñāpāramitā</i> or Perfection of Wisdom in eight thousand verses, now in the Cambridge University Library, Add.1643, is one of the most ambitiously designed South Asian manuscripts from the eleventh century, with the highest number of painted panels known among the dated manuscripts from medieval South Asia until 1400 CE. Thanks to the unique occurrence of a caption written next to each painted panel, it is possible to identify most images in this manuscript as representing those of famous pilgrimage sites or auspicious images of specific locales. The iconographic program transforms Add.1643 into a portable device containing famous pilgrimage sites of the Buddhist world known to the makers and users of the manuscript in eleventh-century Nepal. It is one compact colorful package of a book, which can be opened and experienced in its unfolding three-dimensional space, like a virtual or imagined pilgrimage. Building on the recent research focusing on early medieval Buddhist sites across Monsoon Asia and analyzing the representational potentials and ontological values of painting, this essay demonstrates how this early eleventh-century Nepalese manuscript (Add.1643) and its visual program document and remember the knowledge of maritime travels and the transregional and intraregional activities of people and ideas moving across Monsoon Asia. Despite being made in the Kathmandu Valley with a considerable physical distance from the actual sea routes, the sites remembered in the manuscript open a possibility to connect the dots of human movement beyond the known networks and routes of “world systems”. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8002329bab3a49e9ab67209ff0e1e768 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-8002329bab3a49e9ab67209ff0e1e7682025-08-20T03:32:15ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-07-0116790010.3390/rel16070900An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE)Jinah Kim0Department of History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAA Sanskrit manuscript of the <i>Prajñāpāramitā</i> or Perfection of Wisdom in eight thousand verses, now in the Cambridge University Library, Add.1643, is one of the most ambitiously designed South Asian manuscripts from the eleventh century, with the highest number of painted panels known among the dated manuscripts from medieval South Asia until 1400 CE. Thanks to the unique occurrence of a caption written next to each painted panel, it is possible to identify most images in this manuscript as representing those of famous pilgrimage sites or auspicious images of specific locales. The iconographic program transforms Add.1643 into a portable device containing famous pilgrimage sites of the Buddhist world known to the makers and users of the manuscript in eleventh-century Nepal. It is one compact colorful package of a book, which can be opened and experienced in its unfolding three-dimensional space, like a virtual or imagined pilgrimage. Building on the recent research focusing on early medieval Buddhist sites across Monsoon Asia and analyzing the representational potentials and ontological values of painting, this essay demonstrates how this early eleventh-century Nepalese manuscript (Add.1643) and its visual program document and remember the knowledge of maritime travels and the transregional and intraregional activities of people and ideas moving across Monsoon Asia. Despite being made in the Kathmandu Valley with a considerable physical distance from the actual sea routes, the sites remembered in the manuscript open a possibility to connect the dots of human movement beyond the known networks and routes of “world systems”.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/900Monsoon AsiaMaritime AsiaBuddhist manuscript paintingpalm-leaf manuscriptmapping medieval Buddhist worlddigital humanities |
| spellingShingle | Jinah Kim An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) Religions Monsoon Asia Maritime Asia Buddhist manuscript painting palm-leaf manuscript mapping medieval Buddhist world digital humanities |
| title | An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) |
| title_full | An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) |
| title_fullStr | An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) |
| title_short | An Ambitious Itinerary: Journey Across the Medieval Buddhist World in a Book, CUL Add.1643 (1015 CE) |
| title_sort | ambitious itinerary journey across the medieval buddhist world in a book cul add 1643 1015 ce |
| topic | Monsoon Asia Maritime Asia Buddhist manuscript painting palm-leaf manuscript mapping medieval Buddhist world digital humanities |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/900 |
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