Jaina Sculptures of the Gupta Age in the State Museum Lucknow

SR No.: 250164
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: R C Sharma
Publisher: Z_Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_Mahotsav_Granth_Part_1_012002.pdf and Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_
Total Pages: 13
Language: English
Classification: Article & Art
File Size: 4 MB

Page 13

JAINA SCULPTURES OF THE GUPTA AGE : 151 fall of hair on the shoulders. It reminds us of the old tradition of Yaksa images which influenced the early Buddhist and Jaina iconography to a great extent. This tradition continued even in the later periods. The material is red sand stone and it measures 11'8" x 4'10". This was acquired in the Museum from the Public Library at Allaha bad but probably it originally belonged to Mathura. (Fig. 3.) J. 121 The Tirthankara is standing in meditation in Kayotsarga pose. He wears a mark of Srivatsa, has curly hair and elongated ear lobes. The halo represents only full blown lotus. On his right side stands a Naga deity with five-headed serpent hood which he touches with his raised right hand and the left hand holds some cuplike object. I think that the Naga deity is Balarama with a cup of wine and in this case the Jina can be identified as Neminatha. To the left of the Jina stands a defaced attendant. Near his feet are seen two devotees in adoration to his right and one to his left kneeling before a seated saint. The pedestal shows two lions on two corners seated with their mebacks inward. There is a wheel in the centre of the pedestal on each side of which is seen a seated gure o Jina in meditation. The upper corners of the image show two flying Gandharvas holding garlands. Their hair arrangement which shows Juda tied in the middle is a typical Gupta feature. The sculpture has been assigned in the label to the Kusana period but on its stylistic basis as discussed above, I date it in the 4th century A.D. The material is red sand stone and it measures 1'.11}" x 103". It probably came from Mathura. (Fig. 4.) The image of a Jina seated in meditation wearing the mark of Srivatsa on his chest. The centre of the halo is marked with the rays of light which are shown issuing from his head. This is followed by a full-blown lotus, scroll work and scalloped border. Two flying Vidyadharas are seen carrying the garlands on the upper two corners of the image. The Jina on each side is flanked by two standing attendants holding chowries. The chowri of the attendant of the right side is, however, missing. These attendant figures wear the fiuted head dress which is generally worn by the royal persons or the Bodhisattvas of Kusana period. The curls in the hair of the main deity are also crudely shaped. The serene contemplation which is expressed on the face of other images, e.g., J. 104, is not met