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CHRONOLOGY OF GUJARAT
one-row necklace (ekāvali ) and the armlets are the sparse ornaments on the body. The sculpture is datable to the late Gupta period (C. 550 A. D.).-(Plate XXX).
Lakulisa from Kārvan-Timbarva :-The seated human image of Lakulisa from Timbarvā, 2 miles from Kårvan (now in the M.S. University, Archaeology Collection ) is shown against the linga of black granite. The locks of jață are visible as having spread over the shoulders. It very probably belongs to the 6th Century A. D. at the latest. (M. R. Majmudar, ' Antiquities from Kārvan', JBU, 1950).-(Plate XXXI a).
Aväkhala Śiva: The image of Śiva from Avākhala, the Ulkāgrāma' of the Puranic tradition is, however, a seated human image of Lakulisa, with the citron in one hand and the lakula or the danga in the right hand. It differs from the Kārvap image in that it has a halo at the back, and is not carved on the linga. The locks of jațā are spread over the shoulders. The ekāvali and the yajnopavita are very near the Kārvan image. This may be not earlier than the 8th century.-(R. N. Mehta, JOI, Dec.-March, 1956-57).
Kșetrapāla Image: This is a form of Bhairava, flanked by two attendants with a back-ground of mountain, from a small temple at Śāmalāji, and belongs to the middle of the 8th Century. The face has the complacent expression. The sculptor has cleverly shown the nudity of the standing image by depicting a'wet', the closely fitting diaphanous robe, without any fold lines.--(Plate XXXI b)
Dancing Ganesa from Idar: Ganesa, one of the earliest image of Siva-pantheon, in a dancing posture and discovered from Țiņțoi in the old Idar State is probably dateable to C. 650 A.D. The folds on the drapery are artistically depicted. Gaņeśa from Śāmalāji is a very well-preserved specimen of the Siva Pañcāyatana and belongs to the period of the Mātřikās from Devani Mori.-(Plate XXXII b).
The collosal representation of two images of Ganesa from Harsola and Kandola in north-east Gujarat, pleases the eye by its mass and volume. They are dateable in the latter part of the 8th century A.D.-(S. N. Chakravarti, Guide to Prince of Wales Museum Sculptures, Plate XV).
Kumāra Kartikeya :-Sculptures of Kumāra Kārtikeya, son of Siva, reminding us of the rule of Kumāragupta in Western India, have been obtained from Śāmalāji, Kapuri, Kārvaņ and Baroda, all being very good sculptures of the post-Gupta sculptural art. In the Kārtikeya's image from Samalāji, the warrior's nature is emphasised by prominent eye-balls, strong shoulders, massive arms etc. The rope-like scarf with a loop on the person of Kārtikeya is noticeable in the front. The image might, perhaps, be assigned to the latter period of the reign of Kumāragupta.-(Plate XXXII a).
Umā-Maheśvara from Kapuri :-Umā--Maheśvara (without the head) standing against the Nandi in embrace, is represented in the stone sculpture from Kapuri, a village in Lāța-mandala near Baroda. The figures are tall and stout, but the beautiful sweeping curves of the tribhanga have been skillfully utilised by the artist in making the figures look graceful and charming. The simple ornaments, the ekāvali on the neck of Siva
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