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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
yaksa figures were chiselled in the third century BC.21 It is, thus, certain that the Lohanipur jina image, too, was carved in the third century Bc. No image of the Buddha or of a Brāhmanical deity has been discovered so far which may be called as ancient as the Lohanipur jina image.22 In the light of these facts it appears almost certain that it was Jainism which took the lead in carving images for veneration.23
A study of Jaina antiquites discovered at Mathurā reveals that the interest of the artists of this city and of their Jaina clientele revolved mainly round the production of the images of the tirthamkaras, and that they took negligible interest in sculptures which depicted incidents from their life. Therefore, we find an extremely limited depiction of incidents from the life of the jinas in the plastic art of Mathurā.24
Predecessors of tirthamkara images of Mathurā
The Jaina devotees needed the images of the jinas for worship, and the artists of Mathurā produced them in large numbers. But these images did not spring to life at once. Like Brāhmaṇism and Buddhism, image-worship in Jainism was preceded by worship of symbols.25 The tīrthamkara figures of Mathurā had their predecessors in sacred symbols like the stūpa, the pillar and the āyāga-patta or the silā-patta.26
THE STŪPA The stūpa was an object of Jaina worship. The depiction of stūpa-worship was one of the favourite themes of the sculptors of Mathurā. Excavations at
21. V.S. Agrawala, Pre-Kuşāņa Art of Mathurā, 1984, p. 17; R.C. Sharma, The Splendour
..., op. cit., p. 36. 22. JAA, I, Editorial, p. 3. 23. Ibid. 24. Ibid., p. 65. 25. MCH, p. 333. 26. Ibid.
