ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

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

Page 297

narrative scenes from the lives of Rişabhanātha and Mahāvīra. 12 Among these, only ayāgapatas of the 2nd 1st century BCE merit special attention, since they represent the transitional phase of Jain iconography in which the worship of auspicious symbols, together with the Jinas in human form, was in vogue. One such example of the 1st century BCE bearing the figure of Pārsvanātha, seated in dhyāna-mudrā (seated cross-legged], is in the collections of the State Museum, Lucknow (acc. no. J253). The rendering of the Jinas in the dhyāna-mudrā and the representation of the Śrīvatsa in the center of the chest appear for the first time in the Śunga - Kuşāņa sculptures of Mathura. [Pls. 1, 2] These sky-clad Kuşāņa Jaina images imply full concurrence with Agamic tradition of Sacelaka (draped) and Acelaka [sky-clad], but they, however, do not suggests any sectarian affiliation with the Digambaras. They rather represent the undifferentiated proto-Śvetāmbara and Digambara sects.
The Gupta period was a milestone in the development of the Jaina iconography, during which the most significant iconographic features were introduced, such as the distinguishing cognizances and the yakşa-yashi figures. The Brihatsamhita of Varāhamihira is the earliest text which lucidly gives details of such features [58.65).
The earliest Śvetāmbara Jaina images, known from Akota [Vadodara, Gujarat], were also carved in the Maitrak-Gupta period, 13 and their glorious history continued in the Post-Gupta period. Jaina literature and art thrived most vigorously during the 10th and 13th centuries CE. This era witnessed the construction of a large number of Jaina temples with exquisite sculpture carvings. Gujarat and Rajasthan were the strongholds of the “vetāmbara sect, while the vestiges yielded by other regions are affiliated mainly to the Digambara and Yāpanīya sects. Of the Svetāmbara sites, the most prolific exponents can be seen at the Osian Mahāvīra temple and five Jaina (devakulikās, c. CE 10th - 13th century) and Delvada [Sirohi, Rajasthan- Vimala Vasahi and Lūņa Vasahi (c.CE 1031 - 1250). Of the Digambara sites, Khajuraho [Chhatarpur, M.P., Pārsvanātha, Ādinātha and Ghanțai temples, C. CE 950 -11th century), Deogarh [Lalitpur, U.P., Sāntinātha and several temple and profuse Jaina icons of c. CE 860 - 13th - 14th century], Ellora (Aurangabad, Maharashtra, five Jaina caves nos. 30-34, C. CE 9th - 10th century), Khandagiri [Puri, Orissa - C. CE 11th - 12th century),
12 These narrative panels of the Kushan period are on display in the state museum, Lucknow (acc.no. J626, J354]. 13 M.N.P. Tiwari: Jaina Pratimăvijñāna, (Hindi), PV, Varanasi 1981, pp. 49-52.
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