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worship and icon or symbol worship were common. Icon worship predates yaksa worship. The popular symbols have been Swastika, nandyāvarta, caitya vrkśa, etc. But when man was no more satisfied with symbols he started making anthropomorphic images. First of all idols of yakśas were made and then those of deities.
Since the finding of seals and idols in excavations at Mohan-jodaro and Harappa the earlier concepts about Indian sculpture have undergone a change and its antiquity has been authentically pushed back to five thousand years. Idols of unclad yogīs in kāyotsarga posture dating back to Sindhu civilization period have been found. Many scholars have accepted them as images of Jain Tirthankara Rşabhadeva.
According to Jain hagiographic evidences the first structures constructed were in the city of Ayodhya. Here first of all five Jain temples were made. After that emperor Bharata constructed 72 temples on mount Kailash. An idol of headless torso and another of a head were found in Lohānīpura area of Patna City in Bihar. This torso has similarities with one found in Harappa. It is also disfigured at elbow and knee joints. Because of its typical sheen archaeologists are unanimous in accepting it as a Jain image of the Mauryan period. This is also accepted as the oldest idol found in India. It is placed in the Patna museum. In this museum there is another idol of a yakśī also belonging to this period.
Next come the Tirthařkara images from Udaigiri-Khandagiri caves. Emperor Khāravela, his queen, and their two sons constructed some of these caves. According to historians Khāravela's period is first century BC. In a Khāravela inscription from Hāthigumfa it is mentioned about a gem-idol called Kalingajina that it was taken to Pātalīputra by the Nanda king after his conquest of Kalinga. Three hundred years after this incident emperor Khāravela defeated the then king of Pātalīputra, Vșhaspati Mitra, recovered the image and installed it after constructing a temple on Kumāri hills. This image is at present owned by Vaişnvas. This description indicates that some king of the Sișunāga dynasty (Śreņika Bimbasāra or some of his descendent) probably made this image. If this is proved it would be accepted as the oldest idol found in India.
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