Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain, Others
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 74

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Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
absent here. The outer face of the parapet consists of ornate vedika and kakṣāsana. The vedikā shows a large elephant head at either end and in front of each pillar, and smaller figures of human beings in the central division and of animals in the two side divisions. The kakṣāsana carries pūrṇaghatas between pairs of small colonnettes; the body of the ghatas is carved with human or other figures. The facade of the rock drip above has been carved with ganas and other sculptures that are now much weather-worn, while its soffit bears decorations of ribs and circular bosses and is supported by bracket figures emerging from the pillar capitals. The front aisle of the hall of the upper storey has a cell on each end. The cell on east end leads through a hole into the west wing of the Indra Sabha.
This cave was excavated in the 9th century A.D. Cave 34 It lies close to the Jagannatha Sabha and has been excavated to the west side of the court of the latter. It consists of a verandah, a hall (201⁄2 ft. wide by 22 ft. deep and about 10 ft. high), an antarāla and a shrine. The right side wall of the hall has been cut into a cell of the west wing of the Jagannatha Sabha. The verandah, which had two pillars and two pilasters, is gone. At the back it has two pilasters, a central door leading to the hall, and two side windows. The hall has four square short pillars and corresponding pilasters. The pillars have a square moulded base with triangular flat boss on each face. Below, their shaft is square with a plain section and a pair of foliated creeper on each face, and above, it is sixteen-sided with jewelled and floral festoons, a band of carved diamonds, and eight nāsīs. The faceted round capital consists of double padma, flattened bulbous ghata with a band of diamonds, and round corbel. The hall has usual standing images of Parsvanatha and Bahubali in the central niches, pairs of seated Jinas in other niches, and Sarvanubhuti and Ambika, also seated, flanking the entrance to shrine containing an image of Mahāvīra seated in dhyanamudra. This cave is datable in the 9th century A.D.
PATNA
Patna is an old village, now deserted, near the Buddhist site of Pitalkhora in Khandesh district of Maharashtra. On the east side of the village is a hill with two Jaina excavations known as Sītā Nahani and Nagarjuna Kotharī.
Sitā Nahani It is a very irregular unfinished cave consisting of a verandah and a hall. The verandah is 28 ft. long and has two rudely blocked out pillars. The hall measures about 24 ft. by 13 ft. and has two rough pillars near the middle of it.
Nagarjuna Kothari - It is also an irregular cave (Fig. 38) following the general plan of the Sītā Nahini, but it has a good number of sculptures. Its verandah is 18 ft. long by 6 ft. to 4 ft. wide and is supported in front by two pillars, one square and the other rhomboidal. At the left or south end of the verandah is a small cell with a bench along the back wall.
The hall is about 20 ft. long by 14 ft. deep with two irregular pillars in the middle. At the base of the left pillar is Sarvanubhūtī sitting on an uncarved mass of rock, and at that of the right is Ambika seated with a child under a tree laden with birds, fruits and foliage. On the back wall of the hall is an image of Jina seated cross-legged on a lotus seat. The back of the seat is carved with two elephants' heads, two standing Jinas, two cauri-bearers, makaras, Vidyadharas etc. Over the central figure of the Jina is a triple umbrella with foliage hanging down. The south wall near the back bears a life-size standing Jina with nimbus, triple umbrella and small attendant figures. There are three empty niches in the north wall, one such niche in the south and a small irregular cell in the back wall near the south end.
Stylistically, these caves at Patna were probably excavated in the 9th or 10th century A.D. ANKAI-TANKAI
Lying four or five miles south of Manmad Railway Station in Maharashtra, Ankai and Tankai are the names of two hills connected by a short ridge. The western