ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 251

and danseuses, they do not attract any attention. Yet Dharana saw to it that his portrait has been carved with folded hands facing the tīrthamkara, paying him eternal obeisance.
In the meghanāda mandapa on the northern side, there is a large marble elephant dating back to 1687. On the back of the elephant is mounted the mahout and besides him Marudevī, mother of Ādinātha. She is said to have come to hear the sermon of her son. Legend has it that on catching sight of him, while still some distance away, she achieved moksa. She would thus be the first person to have escaped the cycle of birth in this current epoch of decline and end.
In the meghanāda mandapa on the southern side, there are magnificent carvings on the ceiling. There is a motif of nāgadamana, a circular medallion, with Krsna in the midst of the tangled coils of intertwined nägins (female serpents).
In the balāna-mandapa on the southern side, there are two reliefs measuring approximately a meter each. The reliefs face each other and apparently complement each other.
The Jambūdvīpa, the circular continent of the middle world in the centers of which stands the world mountain Meru, is represented on the eastern side. It is surrounded by mountains on which are located the abodes of the gods, and stylized forests. The entrances represented on the four sides are of special importance.
Facing this is the relief of the Nandīśvara-dvīpa, the eight island continent. In this case too, four groups, consisting of thirteen mountains each, with temples atop them, surround the centre and form the figure fifty-two, which the Jainas regard as holy.
On the southern side of the temple there is a splendid relief of Pārsva, the twenty-third ford maker. He is seen standing flanked by two Jainas and two female serpents carrying fans. His head is protected by a one thousand-headed serpent hood. The whole scene is framed by serpent gods and goddesses with human bodies, their serpent tails knotted together. The two fan carrying serpents are also joined together.
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