________________
Jaina Art and Architecture at Mathurā
Siddhāyikā526 or Padmā.527 It may be pointed out that Mātanga has been mentioned as the yaksa of Supārsvanātha also.528
The evolution of the lāñchanas of the twenty-four jinas added a new chapter to the history of Jaina iconography. The new image of the jina depicted his lāñchana, his attendant yakşa and yakṣī, asta-mangalas, dharma-cakra, nava-grhas, figures of elephant, etc.529 In short, the jina figure attained completion in the ninth-tenth century AD.530
The Jaina architecture at Mathurā
The Jaina architectural activity at Mathurā began with the construction of the stūpa at Kankālī Țīlā in the pre-Kuşāņa period. But, strangely enough, it did not extend beyond the Kuşāņa period. This is evident from the fact that archaeological excavations at Mathurā have not exposed any Jaina architectural antiquity which can be assigned to the post-Kuşāņa period. Excavations at Mathurā have brought to light a large number of Jaina inscriptions,531 and architectural pieces like pillars, lintels, door-jambs, capitals, umbrellas, railing posts, cross-bars, coping stones, component parts of gateways, bracket-figures, tympana and other small or big fragments, which formed parts of Jaina buildings constructed in this city in the pre-Kuşāņa and Kusāna period.532
The Jaina stūpa at Kankālī ļīlā was constructed many centuries before the commencement of the Christian era. Inscriptions reveal that between the second century AD and the third century AD many more Jaina religious buildings were constructed at Mathurā. A Jaina temple (pāsāda) was erected
526. JPV, p. 136; JAA, I, p. 16. 527. Ibid., p. 136. 528. JPV., p. 254; JAA, I, p. 15. 529. Ibid., p. 250. 530. Ibid. 531. EI, X, Appendix, pp. 2ff. 532. JS, Introduction; JAA, I, p. 52.
219
