Jain Journal 1973 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 47

An Unpublished Image of Neminatha from Deogarh
MARUTI NANDAN PRASAD Tiwari
The prolific Jaina site at Deogarh, situated in the Jhansi District of Uttar Pradesh, yielded a vast amount of archaeological material ranging in date from the ninth to the twelfth century A.D. The number of the images, lies somewhere between 1000 and 1100. The present image of the twenty-second Jina Neminatha, enshrined in the Temple No. 2, is a solitary instance at the site, which renders him with Krsna-Vasudeva and Balarama, his cousin brothers. The image, fashioned in the red sandstone and measuring 55" by 20", is attributable to the tenth century on stylistic grounds.
Jina, wearing the śrivatsa ciņha in centre of the chest, stands as sky-clad in the kāyotsarga-mudrā on a simhāsana, now badly damaged but some portion of the two lions supporting the throne being still extant. The two recessed corners of the throne are occupied by the figures of two-armed Yaksa (right) and Yakşi (left), seated in lalitasana. Both the figures similarly show the abhaya-mudrā with right hand and a mātulinga (fruit) in the corresponding left. Further above, close to the feet of the Jina sit two kneeling devotees with folded hands, now severely mutilated. Jina is flanked by two haloed attendants standing as they are in tribhanga. Each attendant, wearing tall decorated headdress, necklace, upavīta, scarf, bracelets, ear-pendants, and dhotī, bears a flywhisk, resting on shoulder, in inner hand, while the outer hand is resting on thigh.
Above the cāmaradharas are sculptured the figures of Balarama and Krsna-Vasudeva, standing on brackets. The two-armed figure of Balarama, provided with a five-hooded cobra overhead, stands in the tribhanga pose on right of the Jina. He holds a fruit in the right hand and a plough in the left. His hair is dressed in flattened manner with a
1 Bruhn, Klaus, The Jina Images of Deogarh, Leiden, 1969, Introduction. 2 The photograph published by Bruhn (fig. 197, Image No. 235) illustrates only
the portion above the knees of Neminatha and that too is not much clear. As to the Image Bruhn just writes, "A strange feature is the representations of Balarama and of Visnu-like figure to the left and to the right of the Jina". (Ibid., p. 163)