Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

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15. NON-JAINA CULTS, CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS
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interior of the Varāha Temple. The story of Durgā slaying the Buffalo Demon was popular not only in India but in Java; and a remarkable bas-relief showing the fight of the goddess with the demon, regarded as one of the finest specimens of Indian art, is found in the so-called Mahişăsuramandapa. The eight-armed goddess, astride on her lion, is represented as shooting arrows at the demon whose colossal figure is seen slightly receding before her, with one of his followers slain and another apparently wounded. It is also noteworthy that, in the bas-reliefs in the Draupadi's Ratha and the Varāhamandapa, one of the worshippers is shown as cutting off the tresses of his hair with a sword as a votive offering to the goddess. Such practices are, of course, far different from the various forms of self-torture practised in connection with the cult of Candamārī, or Candikā, as described by Somadeva and others. The practices described by Somadeva in Yasastilaka evidently belong to an abnormal variety of the cult, which appealed to the fanaticism of a limited class of worshippers. But the cult of the Devī, in the ordinary sense of the term, had a much wider appeal; and old temples dedicated to the Goddess are found in various parts of India. The cult was, as stated below, popular
1 The scene is represented on a much smaller scale in a beautiful panel discovered
near the Šiva temple at Bhumara of the early Gupta period (see Appendix III). The goddess is four-armed with a sword in one hand and a trident in another. She stands with her left foot on the head of the buffalo and grasps his tail with one of her
hands. See plate xiv (b) in R. D. Banerji's monograph on the temple. 2 Some of the old temples dedicated to Devi may here be mentioned, many of which
have been rebuilt in later times. The temple of Ambi Bhaväni on the summit of the hills of Arasur at the south-western extremity of the Aravalli range is an important centre of pilgrimage, and lays claim to a remote antiquity. The ancient town of Darbhavati or Dabhoi, about twenty miles to the south-east of the city of Baroda, contains a temple dedicated to Bhadra Kālikā Mātā (Bhadrakāli). It is situated to the right of the famous Hira'Gate at Dabhoi on the east side of the old fort, and stands on the site of an older shrine in honour of the same goddess. It was probably built by Vishaldev Vaghela about 1255 A. D. "Its dimensions are small, but the whole outer face has been so broken by mouldings, and ornamented by sculptures, large and small, as to render it typical of the rich thirteenta century style in Gujarat.' The temple is, in fuct, one of the most important architectural monuments of the pre-Muslim period in Gujarat. Another Devi temple known as Kälkā Mātå or Kalkā Bhawani stands on the lofty summit of the hill of Pavagadh situated about twenty-five miles north-east of Baroda. The goddess has been worshipped on the rocky peak for many centuries as the guardian deity of the hill. The shrine, which is visible from a distance of many miles in the plains below, is no doubt very ancient, being mentioned as a place of pilgrimage under the rulers of Anhilvad Patan,' But the present building is probably of a much later date. Commissariat: History of Gujarat, Vol. I, pp. lxi, lxxxvii, 191. An ancient temple of Devi or Candikā, venerated by Rajputs throughout Malwa and Mewar, exists at the small village of Antri in the Garoth District of Indore State. The present temple is, however, a modern structure built with the materials collecte! from the ruins of an older shrine,
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