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Jaina Art and Architecture at Mathurā
Amohinī.207 Aryavati has been described as the mother of a jina,208 probably of Mahāvīra.209 She enjoyed divine status, 210 because her right hand is raised in abhaya-mudrā.211 Attendants carrying flywhisks and an umbrella are also manifest in the image of Aryavati.212
One of the donative gifts of a Jaina devotee of the Kusāna period was an image of Sarasvatī,213 the goddess of learning in Hinduism and Jainism. Seated squat with knees drawn up above an oblong pedestal, this goddess, specifically named Sarasvatī, holds a book in her left hand which rests on the waist.214 The broken palm of the right hand, which was raised to the shoulder, most probably held a rosary.215
Depiction of the monks, the nuns, etc.: The Kuşāņa period
The pedestals of numerous seated and standing jina figures of Mathurā belonging to the Kusāna period have a bas-relief in front in between two lions at either end of the pedestal.216 The bas-relief depicts the dharma-cakra,217 devotees218 or worshippers,219 male and female, 220 children,221 male devotees
207. EI, X, Approndix, no. 59. 208. MCH, p. 356; SIJA, p. 11. 209. SIJA, p. 11; JAA, I, p. 67. 210. MCH, p. 356. 211. SML no. J.1; MCH, p. 356; JAA, I, p. 67. 212. Ibid.; MCH, p. 356. 213. EI, X, Appendix, no. 54.; SML no. J.24. 214. SML no. J.24; JAA, I, p. 67; MCH, p. 356. 215. Ibid.; ibid.; ibid. 216. JUPHS, III, MM nos. B. 75, 1388, etc. 217. Ibid., MM nos. 490, B. 4, etc. 218. Ibid., MM nos. B. 71, etc. 219. Ibid., MM nos. B. 29, etc. 220. JUPHS, III, MM nos. B. 4, etc. 221. MCH, p. 347.
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