Jain Yug 1958

SR No.: 536282
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sohanlal M Kothari, Jayantilal R Shah
Publisher: Jain Shwetambar Conference
Publication Year: 1958
Total Pages: 82
Language: Gujarati
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Yug, & India
File Size: 8 MB

Page 38

જૈન યુગ
As in other compositions of this type, the parikara of the standing figures is rather different from the parikara of the seated figure. There can be little doubt that the various parts of the composition were designed together and not collected from different sources. The two socles with the reliefs of Gomukha and Cakreśvari belong for iconographic reasons to the central image. The images with the standing Jinas are asymmetrical (the miniature Jinas etc. appearing only on the inner sides) and cannot have been independent slabs in this form. On the other hand it is at least not necessary to assume that a part of these slabs has been subsequently cut away; in temples Nos. 19 and 29 at Deogarh we find well preserved standing images which belonged to similar compositions and show the same irregularity. Stylistically all pieces belong together. The difference between the pedestal of the central image and the pedestals of the lateral images (see above) is however noteworthy. But probably this discrepancy is explained by the different dimensions of the images and has nothing to do with style.
On account of the jaṭās, the plaits of hair which hang down on the shoulders, and the attending Yaksa and Yakṣi we can identify the seated Jina as Ṛsabha. Since images which are expected in this style normally show the cihna (see Jain Yug, April 1958, p. 36 f.), we can assume that Rṣabha's bull-symbol was originally carved somewhere below. the Jina (possibly on the offset in the centre of the cushion which is now obliterated). The images to the left and right show the snake-hoods and represent therefore Pārsvanatha (or Suparśvanatha). The cihnas (snake and svastika respectively) are missing as on inost images of these Jines in Madhya
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નવેમ્બર ૧૯૫૮
desha. Too much importance should not however be attached to these identifications. The majority of the Jina images in our area show either some type of long hair (jață etc.) and the bull cihna, or they show the snakehoods. The popularity of these additions reflects artistic fashion rather than religious trend. Otherwise we could not understand why the artists paid so little attention to the indication of the personality of the Jina. There is for example no proper distinction between Pārśvanatha and Suparśvanatha, and the long hair which should only be shown in the case of Ṛsabha is found with other Jinas as well.
The style of the images is not different from that of many others, although the elaborate parikara is unusual in the case of the central image. Figures of this size are normally not accompanied by so many subsidiary figures and paraphernalia. There is also a marked difference between the monumental style of the seated Jina himself and the baroque character of the parikara (see also the singular design of the jaṭā).— The body of the seated Jina is heavy and well-proportioned. The waist appears immediately above the forearms and is not raised as in the case of many other seated images. The elbows are not turned outwards and the upper arms hang down vertically. The face is actually broad but it gains in height on account of the jața and the vertical bands of hair on the shoulders. The whole conception is determined by a rigid system of vertical and horizontal lines and compares favourably with the nerveless and emasculated creations of other artisans of that time.
The standing Jina (Fig. 2). This image measures also about 12 feet in height. The parikara comprises only the lotus