Ambika on Jaina Art and Literature

Author(s): Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 27

Brahminical, Buddhist and folk cults. But at the same time they always maintained the supreme position of the Jinas and as a consequence call other deities are either shown on the pedestal or in the parikara of the lina images and even in case of their independent renderings the linas are shown at the top of their images.
The earliest Yaksa-Yaksi pair carved in Jaina sculpture was Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā." Next come, the figures of Dharanendra and Padmavati, the Yakşa-Yaksi pair of Pārsvanatha. The other Yakşas and Yaksis were carved in c. 10th century A.D. onwards. In the sculptures from C. sixth to the ninth century A.D. Rsabhanātha, Santinātha, Neminátha, Parsvanatha, Mahāvīra and some other Jinas are accompanied by the single Yakşa-Yaksi pair, Sarvănubhuti and Ambikā . It was only in c. 10th century A.D. onwards that separate Yaksa-Yaksi pairs were carved with the above Jinas, the examples of which are known mainly from Deogarh, Gyāraspur, Khajuraho and few other places. In such sculptures, Rsabhanātha, Neminātha and Pārsvanatha are accompanied respectively by the traditional Yaksa-Yaksi pairs, Gomukha-Cakresvari, Sarvānubhūti-Ambikā, and Dharanendra-Padmāvati, while the Yaksa-Yaksi pairs accompanying Sāntinātha and Mahavira do not have any traditional features.
The rendering of the Yaksa-Yaksi figures with the Jinas became a popular feature after ninth century A.D. It may be noted here that in independent sculptures, the depiction of the Yaksis was more popular than their male counterparts. We have come across three instances of the collective renderings of the twenty-four Yaksis 40 but the representation of the twenty-four Yaksas has not been reported from anywhere so far. The fact is suggestive of comparatively much favoured position enjoyed by the Yaksis.
Sarvänubhūti and Ambikä, the most favoured Yaksa-Yaksi pair at the Jaina sites of western India, were carved with almost all the Jinas. However, in few instances from the Svetambara sites, the independent Yaksa-Yaksi pairs with Rsabhanátha and Pārsvanātha were also carved. Gomukha-Cakreśvari, Sarvānubhūti-Ambikā and Dharanendra-Padmavati enjoyed the most favoured position in Digambara sculptures. It is surprising to note that faina sites spread over Bihar, Orissa and Bengal have yielded only a few Yaksa-Yaksi figures.
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