This Jain cosmological map, known as Manuṣyaloka (the world of mortals), was painted in gouache on canvas in Rajasthan, India, in the mid-19th century. It is the work of an anonymous artist, like most pieces of this genre, and forms part of a tradition of visual representation in India dating back to the 13th century.

Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India. It was founded in the 6th century BC by Vardhamana Mahavira and, unlike other major religious traditions, has no creator god: the universe is eternal and operates according to the natural laws set out in the sacred texts. This map moves away from a descriptive representation of the territory and instead illustrates this doctrine, depicting its cosmology, its inhabitants and the established boundaries.

The composition centres on multiple concentric rings:

• In the centre, Jambudvipa (the land of the pink apple tree), the central continent of the inhabited world, with Mount Meru as the axis of the universe and six great mountain ranges dividing the continent into nine regions, including Bharata, the region corresponding to India.
• In the second circle, Lavanasamudra (the ocean of salt), represented by the first blue ring surrounding Jambudvipa.
• In the third circle, Dhatakikanda (the region of the dhātakī tree), which Jain texts describe as a replica exactly twice the size of Jambudvipa, divided into eastern and western halves by the mountain range Iṣvākāra. Each half mirrors the structure of the central continent, with its own Mount Meru and its own Bharata region.
• In the fourth circle, Kalodadhi (the ocean of black water), teeming with fish and aquatic creatures on this map.
• The fifth circle, the inner half of the Pushkaradvipa (the Lotus Island), the part of the continent that can be inhabited by humans.
• The sixth and final circle, Mānuṣottara, the mountain range that no human can cross, shown on the map as a black-and-white zigzag border framing the entire circular area.

Collectively, Jambudvipa, Dhatakikanda and the inner half of Pushkaradvipa are known as Adhaidvipa (the two and a half continents), which, according to Jain tradition, refers precisely to the entire habitable world. This is the only setting in which a person can be born as a human being and progress towards the moksha, the final liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Sources

• Manuṣyaloka (मनुष्यलोक) (Cosmological Diagram – The World of Mortals.)