World Of Jainism

SR No.: 023359
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vishwanath Pandey
Publisher: Vishwanath Pandey
Total Pages: 132
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 32 MB

Page 115

THE WORLD OF JAINISM
105
in its comparison a rather stiff lower portion with stiffly planted legs placed apart, rather awkwardly modelled. The Parsvanatha image (Fig. 12) mentioned above has many things in common with the bronzes from the Chausa hoard and hence should be considered along with these.
While on one side a comparison of the Parsvanatha image is suggested with the Lohanipur Torso, on the other side opinions have been expressed to suggest that this bronze is a product of Western Indian workmanship possibly of Sind—on the basis that it has affinities with Indus art. Any suggestion to equate the Mauryan or the Kushana art with that of the Indus Valley sounds too far-fetched and does not merit serious consideration. It also seems untenable to assign an isolated piece like this to a region which has not yielded any single monument or relic of Jaina Art.
One more problem needs clarification and it is the absence of Srivatsa mark on the chest of this image.
It will not be correct to assume that such a mark is an inevitable characteristic of images of the northern region at least during the early centuries of the Christian era. Even in the Chausa hoard there are many images (Figs. 13, 16) wherein this mark is conspicuously absent, and all such bronzes evidently belong to the 2nd-3rd century A.D. It is rather on the basis of these considerations that the Prince of Wales Museum's Parsvanatha can be considered to belong to the North-Eastern region and can be assigned to circa 2nd century A.D.
Some Kushana sculptures from Mathura particularly a group of Sarvatobhadrika provides excellent comparison for the Chausa images and hence the group can safely be dated between the 2nd-4th century A.D. None of the images has any ushnisha which is a Gupta period development.
The presence in this hoard of a few bronzes (Figs. 20, 21) which evidently belong to the Gupta period is rather intriguing. This group includes seated images of Chandraprabha (Fig. 21) and Mahavira. In the Valabhi-bhanga Prabandha (on the Destruction of Valabhi) of Merutunga's Prabandha chintamani, it is mentioned that when the Mlechhas attacked Valabhi the images of Chandraprabha and Vardhamana disappeared and travelling through the sky settled at Somnath Patan and Sri Malapur respectively. This reference has led to the belief that the images of Chandraprabha (and may be even other images) in the Chausa hoard must have originally belonged to Valabhi. Whatever be the truth of the legend, it is true that the later images do not seem to belong to any known tradition in the north-eastern province.
On the other hand we have evidence of Jain metal images of the sixth century A.D. from the region of Valabhi (Fig. 22). It consist of five images of Tirthankaras one with the halo