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IMAGES AND TEMPLES OF PĀRŠVA IN CENTRAL INDIA
Amar Singh
Pārsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, whose historicity has been fully established, is regarded by many modern writers of history as the real founder of Jainism. In this paper I intend to deal with the studies of images and temples of Parsva in Central India (Madhya Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh), which were built in the territories where Gupta, post-Gupta, Pratihära, Cedi, Ca della, Kacchapaghata and Paramara dynasties had ruled within their temporal brackets from c. fourth century A.D. to c. 13th century A.D. In ancient and medieval periods, several temples for Pärsvanatha had been built. The buildings in course of time had disappeared leaving only stray remains; so the still standing temples for the Jina are somewhat rare to meet with while loose images abound in number.
The earliest images of Pärśvanätha are reported from Mathura (U.P.); but no image of the Jina of comparable antiquity has so far been found in Central India. In point of fact, it does not appear there before the fifth century A.D. In the Gupta, but more frequently from post-Gupta and Pratihära periods, Pärsvanätha's images are met with in fair abundance. These have been reported from Udaigiri, Vidisă, Nacana-Kuthärä, Gyâraspura, Gwalior, Amrol, Deogarh, Sira-Pahārī, Kundalpur, Badoh-Pathāri, Tu-Main and the neighbouring regions of Jabalpur and Tevar (ancient Tripuri).
Gupta and post-Gupta Periods
The Udaigiri cave 20 (Plate 7) near Vidiśä, excavated according to the inscription in the Gupta year 106 (A.D. 425-426) and hence in the reign of Kumaragupta 1, was meant for an image of Pārsvanätha. However, the loose image now present in the cave is of a much later date. A badly mutilated relief of a seated Pārśva in dhyanamudra, which, as suggested by U.P. Shah, is the image referred to in the inscription.2
One other, and an excellently fashioned image of Pārsvanatha which was originally enshrined in a Jaina temple at Gyäraspur near Bhilsä (Vidišä), currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, shows Părśvanatha seated below the Dhataki
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