________________
Images and Temples of Parsva in Central India
mudră on a simbåsana and with the seven-hooded serpent-canopy over his head. A dharmacakra is present between the lions of the throne. Above the seat a decorated carpet is also seen suspended. In the first image (Plate 16) Pärśvanätha is seated. on a decorated masûraka placed on the carpet. In the second image (Plate 17) he is seated on the serpent coils with a horizontal lay on the carpet and in the third image (Plate 18) he is shown simply seated on a decorated carpet. In all the three examples he is flanked by a pair of camara-bearers. Above the serpent-hoods is the chatratraya flanked by celestial beings carrying garlands. On stylistic grounds these images may be dated to the c. ninth century.
Mention may also be made of some Pārsvanatha images belonging to the ninth century standing in the kayotsarga-mudra with a seven-hooded serpent canopy over their heads, embedded as they are in the western compound wall of the temple No. 12 and as part of the sarvatobhadrikā images housed in the Sahu Jain Sangrahalaya, both in Deogarh.
In Central India, after the Pratihāras, the Cedis or Kalacuris ruled over the eastern part (Dahala and Mahäkośala), the Candelläs over the northern part (Jejakabhukti, currently Bundelakhand) and the Paramāras over the western part (Mālavadesa, Mälva); while the central part was ruled over for some time by the Kacchapaghātas.
Kalacuri
Territory
The Cedis or Kalacûris extended their liberal patronage to the Nirgrantha religion as evident by several images of Parsvanatha, dating from the 10th to the 12th century, found in District Jabalpur and the site of Tevar (Tripuri), the ancient Cedi capital. Pārsvanatha sculptures are also known from Sirpur, Singhanpur, Sähḍol, Garha and many other places in the former Rewa State in Baghelkhand region where the art developed under the patronage of Kalacūris had prevailed.
Käritaläi (District Jabalpur) was an important centre of the medieval Nirgranthism during the Kalacuri period. The five images of Pārsvanatha in the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum at Raipur are from Käritaläi and belong to the tenth and the 11th century. Of these two are in point of fact caturviṁsati-pattas with Pārsvanatha as the mulanayaka. The first image (Plate 19) shows him seated in padmasana in dhyana-mudra on a serpent which is shown in the act of canopying Pārsvanatha with his seven hoods. The image has miniature representations of nine other Tirthankaras to the right and eight to the left, the remaining six originally represented on the top row above the chatra are now missing. The pedestal of the image.
Jain Education International
83
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
