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rat and Marwar, which might possibly be identified with Arbuda-Nāga. The Nāgarāja is seated in the lalitāsana. Below the legs are the figures of a niga and nīgini, with their lower halves-snake-tails entwined in a single knot. The Nāgarāja himself carries a lotus in his right hand, and another lotus with a long stalk is seen near the left shoulder. There is a canopy of a three-hooded nāga on the head of a figure, which makes him a Nāgadevatā. He wears an ekāvali and a yajñopavīta.-( Plate XLVIII a).
Ganas from Samalaji : The figures of Ganas from Devani Mori near Sāmalāji Hills, ( now in the Baroda Museum, Sculpture Gallery), with caps resembling Central Asian types, obviously betray the Hūņa influence. On the pedestal of another of these ganas, but without head, two letters Vāvu' are inscribed clearly in the Gupta script of the late fifth or early sixth century. (Plate XLVIII b)-(H. Goetz : 'Gupta Sculptures from Northern Gujarat', Journal Gujarat Research Society, Vol. XIV, No. 1, and Baroda Museum Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. 25).-(Plate XLIX ).
Bronzes of the School of Ancient West': There was an accidental discovery of a hoard of more than one hundred metal images-some totally worn out, some inscribed and a few dated also—from the old site of Ankoțţaka or the mound at Akoțā village on the other side of the Baroda railway line, where earth was being dug out for brick and tilemaking in 1952. This discovery revolutionised the views about the sculptural art in metal, of Western India. It has been an uncontroverted proof of the existence and the prevalance of the “School of Ancient West", mentioned by Târānātha. The Rāştrakūțas were great patrons of Jainism. During the reigns of Dantivarman, Govinda III and Amoghavarşa, Digambara Jainism from Karņāțaka spread to Malwa and Magadha. Karka Suvarņavarşa, whose grant is found at Baroda, refers to Jaina temples (Caityālayāyatana ) monastery (Vasahikā), and Senasamgha at Navsāri ( 738 Saka).-(H. D. Sankalia, Archaeology of Gujarat, pp. 234-35). Svetāṁbara Jainism had a great stronghold in Gujarat, specially due to the activities of Haribhadrasūri. We get, however, definite literary evidence about Jaina temples and Jaina scholars during the succeeding Caulukyan period. But a few of these bronzes specifically refer to a Jaina monastery at Akota (Cf. ओं श्रीमद्दोणाचार्यैः अंकोट्टकanfaa1214...... ! Inscription on the image of Adinātha ); and probably these bronzes were kept in these Jaina temples at Akoțā.
Akota Bronzes : Jivantasvami: The beautiful Jivantasvāmi torso discovered from Akoțā hoard, is the finest bronze ever discovered in Western India, with marked Gupta influences. It wears a high, four-sided richly ornamented crown. It also wears a torque and a broad (golden ) necklace. The hair-locks fall in three tiers over the broad shoulders, the upper end of the locks being surrounded by a fan-shaped ornament. The circular tilak-mark on the forehead, the eyes inlaid with silver, and the effective use of copper on the lower lip and the floral design of the crown add to the charm of this bronze from Western India, which is not later than the middle of the 6th century A.D.-( Karl Khandalawala, on Dr. U. P. Shah's Studies in Jaina Art' 1955, Lalit Kalā, Nos. 3-4, pp. 126).
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