Fragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folio

This exquisitely executed miniature painting of a seated royal donor exemplifies the unprecedented quality achieved by Kashmiri artists working on plant fiber papers. This medium, as opposed to the traditional palm-leaf folio, allowed a larger scale format and, properly sized, a new refinement of execution. It depicts a royal worshipper seated cross-legged in lalitasana, a variation of the royal ease posture, and with his hands raised in veneration, gazing reverently beyond the picture frame to the sacred text that occupied the once complete folio. Paintings such as this are firmly associated with manuscript editions of the Prajnaparamita, a Vajrayana text embodying the goddess of the same name. This famous magical text, composed largely of spells and charms (dharani), was widely reproduced, most often in its 100,000 verse edition, as an act of merit. Its recitation was understood to bring protection and material benefit to all.