ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

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

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the figures of yakshas and yakshis have also been added to Jivantasvami, apparently suggestive of the innovation on the part of the artist.
The earliest known Jina image is preserved in the Patna Museum; it comes from Lohanipur [Patna, Bihar] and is dated back to the 3rd century BCE. As the figure is nude and stands in the kyotsarga mudra, [pls. 3,7] this suggests rigorous austerity, confined only to the Jinas. Another from Lohanipur is assignable to the Sunga period or slightly later. A terracotta Jina icon of the 3rd century BCE has also been reported from Ayodhya. In this connection, the references to the 'Kalinga Jina' in the Hathigumpha inscription, and the Lohanipur and Ayodhya Jina figures, the antiquity of the Jina image may be pushed back to the 3rd century BCE.
The two other earlier images of Parshvanatha, dated differently by scholars from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, are in the collection of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, and the Patna Museum." These figures standing in the kayotsarga mudra are sky-clad, with a five and seven snake's canopy respectively.
Mathura was a stronghold of Jainism from about 100 BCE to CE 1177. The early [100 BCE to the Kushan period] Jaina sculptures from Mathura are of special iconographic significance, because they exhibit certain formative stage in the development of Jaina iconography. The vast amount of vestiges include the ayagapatas [tables of homage], independent Jina images, Pratimasarvatabhadrika, Sarasvati [CE 132], Naigamesi and also narrative scenes from the lives of Rishabhanatha and Mah vra.12 Among these, only ayagapatas 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 Parshvanatha, seated in dhyana-mudra [seated cross-legged], is in the collections of the State Museum, Lucknow [acc. no. J253]. The rendering of the Jinasin the dhyana - mudra and the representation of the Srivatsa in the center of the chest appear for the first time in the Sunga Kushan sculptures of Mathura. [Pls.1, 2] These sky-clad Kushan Jaina images imply full concurrence with Agamic tradition of Sachelaka [draped] and Achelaka [sky-clad], but they, however, do not suggests any sectarian affiliation with the Digambaras. They rather represent the undifferentiated proto-Svetambara 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 yaksha-yakshi figures. The Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira is the earlist text which lucidly gives details of such features [58.65].
The earliest Svetambara Jaina images, known from Akota [Vadodara, Gujarat], were also carved in the Maitrak-Gupta period13 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 Svetambara sect, while the vestiges yielded by other regions are affiliated mainly to the Digambara and Yapaniya sects. Of the Svetambara sites, the most prolific exponents can be seen at the Osian Mah v ra temple and five Jaina [devakulikas, c. CE 10th - 13th century] and Delvada [Sirohi, Rajasthan- Vimala Vasahi and Luna Vasahi [c.CE 1031 1250]. Of the Digambara sites, Khajuraho [Chhatarpur, M.P., Parsvanatha, Adinatha and Ghantai temples, c. CE 950 -11th century], Deogarh [Lalitpur, U.P., Santinatha 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], Humcha [Shimoga, Karnataka] and Sravanabelgola [Hassan, Karnataka - c. CE 10th 13th century], call for special
attention.
The core of the Jaina pantheon, also the visual manifestations representing the concentration of thoughts and myths into figurative and pictorial art, are 24 Jinas or Tirthankars. The Jainas further developed their pantheon by assimilating and transforming different Brahmanical legendary characters and deities in there are from. In embracing Brahmanical deities, Jainas never compromised
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