Demarcating Sacred Space The Jina Images at Kalugumalai

SR No.: 007302
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Lisa N Owen
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown
Publication Year: 2010
Total Pages: 28
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 2 MB

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Figure 10: Ambikā from Group 5 at Kalugumalai
The image of Ambika at Kalugumalai (Figure 10) clearly displays the attributes commonly associated with this goddess, namely the mango tree (seen over her proper left shoulder), her two male children, and the lion. Furthermore, Ambikā is presented as a two-armed goddess and stands with her right hand resting on the head of a small female attendant. The enigmatic male figure on her proper right has been identified as Ambikā's agitated husband prior to his transformation into a vāhana (Ekambaranathan 2005: 36), however, I am not certain about this identification. What is significant to note is that Ambikā is depicted, like Padmāvatī, as an independent goddess and not as a subsidiary attendant (śāsanadevī) to the Jina Neminātha. In fact, there is no visual reference to a Jina in either goddess relief.
The inclusion of these two goddesses at Kalugumalai has been noted by many scholars (Desai 1957: 64-5; Sivaramamurti 1961: 27; Ghosh 1975: 229; and Ekambaranathan 2005: 36). In fact, the carvings are usually discussed along with the novel image of Pārsvanātha and Dharanendra from Group 3. The most thorough examination of these goddesses, however, is by L. Orr (2005). In her article on medieval goddesses in south India, Orr questions the saliency of using sectarian categories as a means to enhance our understanding of the religious art of Tamil Nadu, especially in regard to goddess imagery. She notes that the iconographic and stylistic parallels exhibited in goddess imagery produced in medieval Tamil Nadu suggest that the specific religious or sectarian affiliation of the deities may have had little meaning to those who
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