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Jaina Art and Architecture at Mathura
creepers coming out of the jars,89 etc. The artists of Mathura used many Indian and foreign motifs for the beautification of the aāyāga-paṭṭas. Motifs like vine creepers, mangalas, winged animals, dancing figures, etc., can be noticed in the border frame of these stone slabs.90 Some sacred objects like the wheel and nandyavarta were carved along with decorative motifs in the inner field of the ayaga-paṭṭas.91 In some slabs miniature figures of seated jinas were also depicted. 92 The ayaga-paṭṭas of this variety belong to a class of their own. They illustrate an admixture of symbol-worship and imageworship.
The ayaga-paṭṭas, which are the oldest objects of the Jaina art of Mathura,93 rank among the finest creations of the sculptural art of this city. Production of these homage slabs was an innovation of the artists of Mathura and was confined to this city.94 Numerous ayaga-paṭṭas were produced at Mathura during the pre-Kuṣaṇa and Kuṣaṇa period because these formed part of the religious donations of the Jainas. Excavations have not exposed any ayaga-patta which may be assigned to the post-Kuṣaṇa period. It is clear that the era of the carving of independent stone images of the Jaina deities which commenced in the Kuṣaṇa period announced the closure of the era of the ayaga-paṭṭas.
Tīrthamkara images of Mathura: Pre-Kuṣāņa period
The earliest representation of the tithamkaras at Mathura occurs on an architectural object which was originally a lintel in the second century BC, but was subsequently transformed into a railing pillar.95 Available portions of the
89.
90. MCH, p. 333.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
SML no. J.686a; MCH, p. 333.
Ibid., pp. 333-4.
MM no. 47. 49; JAA, I, Plate 15.
ISP, p. 1.
Ibid.
SML no. J.354 and J.609; MCH, p. 335.
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