Paintings from a Jain 'Heaven and Hell' series.

India, Gujarat(?), late-18th century. . 16 leaves, watercolours on fibrous paper, each depicting a scene from the Jain vision of heaven or hell, each circa 115 x 265 mm; each image framed within red painted border, reverses blank, some light finger soiling and rubbing, overall bright and attractive examples; paired into two groups of 8, each mounted and framed under glass.
islam24 37 Hell and purgatory in Jainism, called Naraka, are realms of cosmology that are characterised by great suffering. There are seven realms of this universe, that are all situated in the 'lower levels' (adho lok), and they are all inhabited by various types of hellish beings. These beings contribute to the various types of suffering one might endure in a vision of Jain hell, including bodily pain, soul colouring (as seen by the dark figures depicted thus), physical transformation and pain inflicted on one other and torture inflicted by mansion-dwelling demi-gods and animals (such as the demons, snakes and scorpions depicted in these illustrations).

Illustrations such as these would have been included with Jain manuscripts and their purpose would have been to warn the viewers of evil and the effects of bad Karma on the eternal soul.