Jaina Rock Cut Caves In Western India Part 01

SR No.: 022810
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Viraj Shah
Publisher: Agam Kala Prakashan
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 412
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 183

Description and Chronology of Caves
157 very likely that the figure reported earlier was Sarvānubhūti as the figure in the opposite end of the verandah is that of Ambikā.
2. Standing Jina:
This figure, to the right of the doorway was reported to be that of Parsvanatha with two smaller attendants. He was placed within a compartment made of two ornamented pilasters on which were several small figures (Nasik District Gazetteer 1975: 877). But now the snake-hoods, attendants and small figures on the pilasters have disappeared. He has hair shown in the dots and a flower shaped srivatsa on the chest.
3. Standing Jina:
This figure, to the left of the doorway was reported to be that of Bahubali with seated attendants on each side. Like Parsvanatha he was also placed in a compartment made of pilasters on which were smaller figures (Nasik District Gazetteer 1975: 877) But now he is also aturned into a Jina figure like the one on the right without attendants and figures on the pilasters.
4. Ambika:
This figure, on the left sidewall of the verandah, was reported to be in a recess made of two pilasters. She was seated on a tiger with a child on her left knee and a 0.3m high standing figure below her right knee and behind the tiger (Nasik District Gazetteer 1975: 877). The child and the attendant have now gone. She is seated in Vāmalalitasana on a lion. Perhaps the lion was mistaken for the tiger. The right hand of Ambika is on the lap and the left hand on the knee. She holds a fruit in the left hand while the right one is empty. She wears ornaments and dress similar to the goddess on the elephant and is also painted. She also has a seven-hooded snake above the head. Over the snake-hoods is a seated Jina with a five-hooded snake on the head and placed within a niche similar to the one above the head of the female on the elephant.
The snake-hoods of Ambika and also of the Jina above must have been done at a recent date, as these features were not reported by earlier scholars. Moreover, Ambika is never represented with snake-hoods. Although she is associated with all the Jinas in the early stage of Jaina iconography, she is the yakşi of Neminatha, the twenty-second tirthankara. It is very likely that this Jina was also carved at a later date.
5, 6, & 7. Standing Jina:
These figures have halo, flower-shaped srivatsa and hair shown in dots with a small uşanisa. Only the last one does not have uşaņişa.
These three standing Jinas were reported to have triple chhatras and were crudely cut. The chhatras have now gone and they are finely made and polished.
8. Two seated Jinas:
The panel consists of two large seated Jinas surrounded by small, seated Jinas. The main Jina figure on the right was reported to be seated on a cushion with two lions below. (Nasik District Gazetteer 1975: 878). He now sits in a padmāsana on a cushion. The lions have diappeared. He has a srivatsa and halo as the other Jinas on the site. The head is