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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus
and interestingly significant. Excepting the Bādāmī-Aihole sculptural forms in the rock-cut Jaina caves (c. A.D. 600), I am not aware if similar sculptures of the other forms are met outside Karnataka.
Pārsvanatha in Bādāmī
Aibole
In Bādāmi in the layana (excavated rock temple) IV, are fine sculptures of Bahubali and Pārsvanatha facing each other, carved as they are on the shorter walls of the vitbikā or paṭṭaśālā-forelobby. Generally, above Pārsvanatha's (and also Supārsvanatha's) head is the canopy of naga's five or seven hoods, one of the distinct features of identification of the respective Tirthankaras. In the Bādāmi instance (Plate 64) the canopy is depicted as having five hoods. A female attendant to the right of the Tirthankara is holding the parasol over the canopy, a feature occurring in the Calukyan sculpture, but disappearing in later periods. She also has naga-hood over the crown, and is therefore most probably an early form of Padmavati. To the left is seated a royal person in rajalilāsana. Above the parasol are the vidyadhara-angels showering flowers. To the left is indistinctly carved Kamatha or Samvara attempting to hit the meditating Jina. The image of Pärsvanatha in an identical position in the paṭṭasālā of the Jaina Cave at Aihole shows Sambara, Padmavati (having her own naga-canopy), and five-hooded Darenendra. (See here M.N. Tiwari, Plate 54.).
The naga hoods of the canopy are five; hence the Tirthankara has to be identified as Pārsvanatha in view of the accompanying Yakṣa and Yakṣi, indeed an indisputable criterion in determination. The presence of Kamatha further supports the identification. In the early sculptural depictions, there largely are sculptures of Vardhamana Mahāvīra and Pārsvanatha better known to history. The delineation of the other traditionally known Tirthankaras in sculpture apparently is later. In the Calukya period, therefore, the need of standardizing the number of någa hoods in connection with Pārsvanatha was not felt. It was in the wake of regular sculptural representation of Supärśvanatha in the subsequent period, who like Pärśvanatha, is characterised by naga-canopy, there arose a need of distinguishing him from the other. This was met with by the depiction of a particular number of hoods, Supärśvanatha being an earlier Tirthankara, the number of hoods in his case is appropriately made seven in contrast to Pārsvanatha's five.
If these observations are acceptable, then in Bädämi-Aihole area are the earliest available representation of Pārsvanatha, radiating as they do a kind quiescent majesty.
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