Podcast Summary
Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Syona Puliady, et al., "Visualizing Devotion: Jain Embroidered Shrine Hangings" (U Washington Press, 2025)
Date: March 1, 2026
Host: Hitit Jain
Guests: Syona Pugliati, Leena Dhanani, Steve Vos
Episode Overview
This episode explores the recently published book "Visualizing Devotion: Jain Embroidered Shrine Hangings". The discussion brings together the book’s co-authors—curator and textile expert Syona Pugliati, medieval Jainism scholar Leena Dhanani, and religious historian Steve Vos—to unpack the origins, ritual uses, history, artistry, community significance, and evolving materiality of Jain embroidered shrine hangings, or chodpattas. The project stems from a 2022-2023 exhibition at UCLA’s Fowler Museum and attempts to bridge art history, anthropology, religious studies, and diaspora experiences.
Guest Introductions (01:50–04:44)
- Leena Dhanani (01:50): Assistant Professor, UC Davis; studies medieval Jain devotional literature, particularly 12th-century stotras and materials from the Jain chod exhibition.
- Steve Vos (02:16): Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Denver, Bhagwan Suparshvanatha Chair in Jain Studies. Focuses on lived religion in Jain studies, Jainism in Islamic India, and globalization’s impact on contemporary Jainism.
- Syona Pugliati (03:12): Curator of Textile (Eastern Hemisphere), Fowler Museum at UCLA. Researches mobile textiles and cultural exchange; her work began with migrant communities in South India and now spans global textile culture.
Project Genesis: How the Book and Exhibition Emerged (05:07–08:17)
- The project was enabled by a Lilly Endowment grant focused on lived religion in Los Angeles immigrant communities. When COVID-19 disrupted the original project plan, the focus shifted to the Fowler Museum’s Lind Family Collection, which contains a major set of chodpattas.
- There was little existing scholarship or curatorial expertise on Jain chodpattas, so the team undertook both community-based and scholarly research.
- The well-received exhibition led to the book’s development as a permanent scholarly record.
Quote (Syona Pugliati, 07:02):
"Exhibitions are very ephemeral ... it’s always nice to have a record of everything that we’ve done and that sort of process. We wanted to combine scholarly engagement with community engagement to get a sort of broad perspective of Jainism and the Chodpattas together."
Defining Chodpatta: Meaning, Etymology, and Form (08:32–19:44)
Etymology & Naming (08:32–13:43)
- Multiple possible derivations of "chodpatta": plant/tree/small bush (suggesting floral patterns), the number 14 (the dreams of a Jina’s mother), or terms related to wall hangings (linked to Vaishnava use).
- The term’s precise meaning remains ambiguous, and its usage is debated in academic and community contexts.
Quote (Leena Dhanani, 11:33):
"It’s still sort of indeterminate as to which one it exactly is, but I think we could all kind of pick our own that we like."
Ritual and Spatial Usage (13:43–19:44)
- Chodpattas often serve as portable backdrops for ceremonies and are part of a trio (backdrop, canopy/chandarvo, and torana/archway) that can create a temporary sacred space.
- In diaspora, the chodpatta can serve as a substitute for icons in home shrines, reflecting adaptation to immigrant life.
- The hangings’ decoration evolves to include English in diaspora, making them accessible to younger generations.
Quote (Steve Vos, 13:43):
"The three pieces there help to create kind of temporary sacred spaces... Sometimes you do see them in shrines ... they can be used to create spaces sort of temporarily, or they can be used as kind of shrine backdrops where they seem to be needed."
Physical Structure & Artistic Features (14:19–19:44)
- Chodpattas act as pseudo-architectural forms with a wall-mounted backdrop, protruding ornamental canopy, and hanging toran.
- The design often features floral borders, the 14 dreams, key religious figures, mythological scenes, and Gujarati or English inscriptions that commemorate donors or events.
Quote (Sayona Pugliati, 14:19):
"They become sort of... portable shrines in some ways ... they represent the shrine, they come to mean different things as they travel from one side of the globe to the next."
Historical Development of Chodpattas (19:44–25:49)
- References in 15th–17th-century Jain texts to laypeople donating canopies and possibly chodpattas to temples.
- Early examples consist of simple architectural motifs, while 20th-century pieces become more narrative and commemorative.
- Technological advances and access to luxurious materials (like velvet) in the 20th century lead to both more widespread and more opulent chodpattas.
Quote (Sayona Pugliati, 25:23):
"It’s not new at this point at all ... but what was really interesting was this role of velvet ... people had a very cosmopolitan understanding of what luxury was and how they wanted to express that in their sense of devotional life."
Materiality: Textile Techniques and Materials (26:18–34:21)
Materials and Techniques (26:40–28:50)
- Typical materials: velvet (front), cotton/silk satin (back), zardozi (gold/silver/copper-wrapped embroidery), sequins, beads, glass, cone/hair, and beetle-wing elytra for iridescence.
Quote (Sayona Pugliati, 26:40):
"The real auspicious quality of gold and silver is maintained in the earlier forms ... When you’re couching materials onto the fabric, you want things that also sort of fight back against the dimensionality of the velvet."
Artistic & Multi-sensory Effects (29:16–34:21)
- Elytra (beetle wings) and dazzling materials used to create "awe" and sensorial engagement, drawing the viewer into the narrative and devotional space.
- Artists use glitter and shimmer strategically to highlight significant aspects (e.g., temples, paths) and evoke theological themes of divine splendor.
Memorable Moment (Leena Dhanani, 30:43):
"I had named my article ‘From Chamakti to Chamatkara’ ... we have this idea of sparkle, glitter, or a flash or a gleam ... and then sort of the aesthetic effect of, like, surprise and wonder."
Ritual and Social Functions (34:21–49:05)
Religious Significance and Gendered Piety (34:54–41:49)
- Chodpattas often commemorate ascetic fasting (especially by laywomen) and are given as gifts (acts of dān, or religious giving) to temples on festive/ritual occasions.
- Inscribed narratives frequently honor women’s pious acts, such as yearlong fasts, which are believed to support familial and community well-being.
Quote (Steve Vos, 35:13):
"As you start to read these inscriptions ... you see that there is a way that these are commemorating especially lay women's fasts."
Opulence, Wealth, and Social Prestige (40:41–44:41)
- The chodpatta’s expense and luxuriousness express both the patron’s religious merit (puṇya) and Jain public prestige (prabhāvanā), dovetailing with traditions of conspicuous religious philanthropy.
- Commissioning chodpattas is most prominent among affluent families and can be requested by monks or nuns for commemorating key events.
Quote (Steve Vos, 41:49):
"I think this comes down to a really important idea for a lot of lay Jains, which is Prabhavana, or the glorification, the outward glorification of the tradition..."
Innovation and Community Identity (44:49–49:05)
- Use of chodpattas is spreading from Shvetambara to Digambara Jains, especially in diaspora.
- A growing trend in custom commissions, increased diversity of visual forms, and familial lineages being represented in inscriptions and imagery.
Sensory Immersion and Narrative (51:02–61:57)
- Chodpattas, like Jain temple art and architecture, are designed to overwhelm the senses and immerse the viewer in devotional stories and locations, rather than simply induce tranquility.
- The visual experience is nonlinear, allowing for meditative, memory-rich, and “dreamy” engagement with religious narratives.
Quote (Leena Dhanani, 51:02):
"There is this astonishment ... a capacity for the Chod to even have them look at it from a different perspective ... there has to be some sense of newness ... as well as what is traditionally understood in Indian aesthetics."
Chodpattas and Jain Painting: Artistic Development (61:58–73:02)
- Chodpattas are related to Western Indian painting traditions and Jain manuscript illustrations; they adapt visual motifs but democratize and localize them for family and community contexts.
- Certain scenes on chodpattas directly replicate famous Jain paintings, bringing scripture-based visual traditions into textile form.
- The artistry enables collective memory, local identity, and flexible re-personalization: patrons or donor-families can literally insert themselves or local motifs into the visual language.
Quote (Steve Vos, 64:04):
"You definitely get the use of characters and sort of like lay people as stand-ins for those characters ... you see the way ... who are sort of participating in that particular fast are sort of like written in that way."
Living Religion, Lay Asceticism, and Gender (73:02–84:56)
- The chodpatta tradition exemplifies how Jainism is lived, not just textually prescribed, and represents a material “domestication of renunciation”—bringing ascetic values and practices into lay and domestic spheres, especially for women.
- Nuns often serve as religious authorities, commission chodpattas, and create devotional genealogies, showing the multidimensional empowerment of Jain women.
Quote (Steve Vos, 78:02):
"I actually think that there's probably more fasting and tapas and asceticism going on now than there probably was five centuries ago among laypeople."
Quote (Leena Dhanani, 83:33):
"It’s interesting because ... there are also some cases where sadhvis are commemorating a sadhvi figure in history ... tying themselves to an historical nun ... there are multiple relationships that sadhvis appear in on these chodpattas."
Future Research Avenues (85:48–88:36)
- Comprehensive database of chodpatta inscriptions for social history.
- Comparative research with Indian painting and wider South Asian textile traditions.
- Material analysis and scientific dating.
- Studies on changing artisan demographics—gender, religion, contemporary collaborations.
- Gender shift: Tracking chodpatta patronage from commemorating both men and women to almost exclusively women by the late-20th century.
Quote (Steve Vos, 85:54):
"I think you could write an entire social history of Jainism just based on ... the chodpattas, like between the visual form and the inscriptions and everything."
Quote (Leena Dhanani, 87:02):
"I also would like to see studies on the artists themselves ... for example, we had Muslim artists ... now we have women ... there's a whole artistic base that ... is not different from ... other forms of artistic bases in India ... there's a lot to be done there about the actual artists themselves."
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On artistic improvisation:
"The more glimmer, the better."
— Leena Dhanani (30:43)
- On community engagement:
"There have been a number of lay women here in Colorado and elsewhere who just can’t wait to show me their chodpattas that ... belonged to their grandmother ... or it’s for themselves."
— Steve Vos (46:52)
- On the cross-generational appeal:
"Younger generations ... can feel closer with it because they can actually understand what’s being written on the cloth."
— Sayona Pugliati (18:26)
- On scholarly impact:
"After the Jain Digest had an article about the UCLA Fowler exhibit, there has been an increase in commissions for chods."
— Leena Dhanani (46:42)
Conclusion
This episode offers a thorough, multi-perspective exploration of Jain embroidered shrine hangings, highlighting their rich devotional, material, gendered, and artistic dimensions. The conversation draws out how these textiles serve as living embodiments of Jain religious memory, artistic ingenuity, diasporic adaptation, and evolving community practice—inviting future research and cross-disciplinary engagement.