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84
Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus
has miniature representations of seated Dharanendra and Padmăvati. On the pedestal, the carpet is decorated with kirttimukha and the cushion with three lotus flowers. Indra and Upendra are presented in the tribharga-posture at the flanks of Pārsva, turning as they do toward the Lord. Elephants flanking the trichatra and the devadumdubhi as usual figure in the top section.
The other two, but partly mutilated images, betray almost the same characteristics, the tail here shown hanging on the carpet through the cushion. The remaining two images are badly damaged.
In one other image housed in the Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, Pārsvanātha (Plate 20) is shown seated in dhyāna-mudrā protected by a serpent-hood canopy and flanked by Indra and Upendra standing in the tribhanga-posture. Above, the usual garland bearers, the two elephants, and the triple umbrella are depicted. On both sides of the pedestal, seated figures of Dharanendra and Padmāvati with serpent hoods over their heads are shown. The simbāsana shows the ärādhakas (devotees) in the centre. Serpent tail as a lāñchana of the Jina is presented on the carpet, hanging as it does from the seat, and above it, the nava-grabas beginning with Aditya are shown sitting in a panel. The image belongs to c. 11th century A.D.
A Pārsvanātha sculpture from Sirpur housed in the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum at Raipur, too, represents the art of the Cedis. The Jina is seated in padmāsana under the seven-hooded canopy of the serpent king Dharana whose body is rendered into a couple of parallel coils and seemingly serves as a cushion at the back of the Tirtharkara. At the extremities, makaras forming the back-seat of the Jina are also discernible. The face, hands, and knees of the figure are damaged. The Jina has the śrīvatsa mark at the centre of his chest and the cakra mark is impressed on the palm. His curly hair is adorned with usnīsa in the centre. The pedestal of the image is much mutilated.
In an image from Singhanpur in Sähdol District (Plate 21), Pārsvanātha is shown standing on a conventional lotus placed upon the tail of a serpent coiled behind the Jina, covering his head with hooded canopy flanked by celestial beings. Above the canopy the chatratraya is shown with elephants standing on lotuses. By the sides of the legs of the standing Jina, Indra and Upendra are presented semi-profile-wise looking towards the Jina. (Almost the same type of image, reported from Sāhdol belonging to the 10th-11th century, was kept at Collector's bungalow in the year 1968.)
In another image (Plate 22) from Pañcamath temple, Singhanpur, (Sāhadol District), Pārsvanātha is seen seated in dhyāna-mudrā with a seven-hooded serpent canopy over his head. He is flanked by the customary camara-bearers standing in tribhanga
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