Lithograph

Among the first series of postcards printed in India by The Ravi Varma Press, this lithograph by the German artist at the Press, Paul Gerhardt, shows how in these very early days, placing the title was not quite fixed by convention, It could easily

Unlike many photographic postcards that emphasized the crowded nature of Bombay bazaars at the turn of the century, Gerhardt opens up the foreground in this painted depiction to create a more spacious and effect.

This early postcard was published by the "Bazaar for the Suffering Child," a missionary group in Germany for domestic consumption and draws our attention to two features of early European postcards.

These Jain temples were constructed in memory of Ādinātha, the first of the Jain tirthankaras, who is said to have meditated here. The publisher of these unusual postcards remains elusive.