________________
Two Kausaggiyas from Vadnagar
HARIHAR SINGH
Vadnagar, an ancient city of Gujarat, is situated on the Mehsana-Taranga-narrowgauge Railway line in Mehsana district of the modern Gujarat State. In olden days it was known as Anandapura and later on Vrddhanagara. It is a fortified town lying on the eastern side of the Vadnagar Railway Station and is known to have been built by the renowned Solanki king Kumarapala in A.D. 1151. It has yielded many important antiquities, of which the two wellknown gateways (toraņas) are worthy of note.
M
In this town, there is an old Jaina shrine dedicated to the first of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, Rsabhanatha, in the closed hall in front of the sanctum (güdhamandapa) of which the images under review are now preserved. Both the images are intact and were recovered from the debris on the northern side of the temple compound when its restoration was undertaken a few years ago. Both of them have been executed out of creamy-coloured white marble and their close resemblance with each other shows that they are the work of the one and the same sculptor. They bear an inscription which refers to the same date, namely Vikrama Samvat 1312 (A.D. 1255).
These are saparikara images framed between two segmented pillarets and are crowned at the top by a half circle forming a nimbus (prabhāmandala) for the deity. Carved almost in the round the central figure in each case stands on a pedestal in the kāyotsarga posture and is canopied overhead by a caitya-tree. Except for the lower garment they are represented naked ; they wear a wide belt round the waist tied to which are chains, folded and suspended along the thigh, and in the centre is carved a kirtimukha from whose mouth issues a long undulating chain or string covering the spaces between the two legs. The long arms of divinities hang down to the knees, which is a characteristic feature of Jina images. The śrivatsa symbol, which
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
