Ambika on Jaina Art and Literature

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

Page 97

Pataurā (Patiān-dãi) (Satna, M.P.), c. 11th century
and Ādinātha temples are attributed to Rsabhanātha, Ambikā finds an important place on Jaina temples. On the contrary, Cakreśvari, the Yaksi of Rşabhanátha, has not been given that much of prominence and her images, barring a few instances carved on the north adhisthāna of the Adinātha temple, etc. can be seen only on the doorlintels of the Jaina temples.
Patiān-dāi
The Ambikā image (Fig. 36) procured from Patian-dāi temple, about six miles from Satna in M.P., is a nonpareil image of Ambikā inasmuch as it contains the tiny figures of other 23 Yaksis in the parikara alongwith their appellations inscribed below. It is quite interesting to find their iconographic details as well as the appellations greatly concurring with the dhyāna-mantras available in the Digambara texts. The image, fashioned in wine coloured sand-stone and measuring
1.700.920 metres, is now on display in the Allahabad Museum (Acc. No. AM 293). The image is datable to c. 11th century A.D. both on account of style and iconography.
Of the 23 Yakşīs carved in the parikara, the figures of 18 Yaksis, in vertical rows, are carved on two flanks of Ambikā while the remain