How an ancient religion maps the world

Jambūdvīpa is the name for the human realm in Jainism, an ancient and enduring religion with its origins in India. In this video, our engagement facilitator Sana introduces us to an extraordinary illustration of this world and the animals, landscapes and elements we share it with: each seen by Jainism as possessing souls like our own. This wonderfully detailed map held in our museum's collection is arranged in concentric circles, linked by crescent-shaped rivers and annotated with tiny calligraphy.


Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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