Holy Abu

SR No.: 023259
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jayantvijay
Publisher: Yashovijay Jain Granthmala
Publication Year: 1954
Total Pages: 380
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 14 MB

Page 248

Hindu Sites and Places af Interest ]
165 People regard the waters of this kuņda as Mandakinī or the river Ganges. It is at present in a very ruined condi.. tion. On its northern embankment is a beautiful stone sculpture of the Paramāra ruler of Ābu, Dhārāvarşhadeva, standing and taking aim with an arrow charged on a stretched bow. In front are standing in a line three life-size figures of buffaloes with a hole across the belley of each, all the three holes being carved in a straight line (Fig. 57). It is said that Dhārāvarşha was so brave and skilled in archery that with one shot of an arrow he could pierce three buffaloes standing in a line.
There is a fragmentary inscription on the bow which is dated in V. S. 1533, but the main figure of the Prince seems to be older. It is therefore reasonable to infer that this inscribed part of the bow was mutilated and replaced in V. S. 1533. The portrait sculpture is 5 ft. high and is stylistically akin to the sculptures of Vastupāla and others in the Lūņa-vasahi.
The Kumbhasvāmī temple, now in ruins, built by Mahārāṇā Kumbhakarņa, stands on the northern end of the Kunda. (8) Säraneshvara-Mahadeva Shrine
On the western bank of the kuņda is the temple Sāraṇeshvara Mahādeva, built in memory of Mahārāv Mānasimha of Sirohī ( who was treacherously murdered on Ābu, by some Paramāra Rājput and was cremated on the site of this temple ). This Shiva-temple was built by Dhārabāi the mother of Mānasimha, in the year 1634 V. S. There is a Shiva-linga in the shrine, an image of Pārvati in the niche behind the linga, and in the wall, a sculpture representing Mānasimha with his five queens. There is another sculpture showing a pair of devotees standing with folded arms. It
1 Sirohi Rajyaka Itihasa, p. 74.