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An Unpublished Tri-Tirthika Jaina Image from Deogarh
MARUTI NANDAN PRASAD TIWARI
The prolific Jaina site of Deogarh, situated in the Jhansi District of Uttar Pradesh, has yielded an immense amount of material of archaeological and art-historical interest spread over the ninth (862) to the twelfth century. The Jaina sculptures of Deogarh are the products exclusively of the Digambara sect which is indicated by the fact that the standing Jinas are shown as sky-clad (Digambara) and also by the occurrence of the sixteen auspicious dreams on the door-lintel of the Temple No. 12 instead of the fourteen as is usual with the Svetambaras. 2
The site has yielded a large number of separate Jina images representing the Jinas in two customary postures, namely, the kāyotsargamudrā (standing erect with hanging arms) and the dhyanamudrā (seated cross-legged with palms in the lap). The Jina images of Deogarh also include the dvi-tirthika, tri-tirthika3 and the caumukha Jina figures. We may note here in passing that we could find only eleven out of the twentyfour Jinas in Deogarh collections. Besides the Jina images, an adequate number of Yakşi figures are also scattered over the site. The collective rendering of the series of the 24 Yakşis, considered to be the earliest known (862) group representation of the 24 Yaksis, finds depiction on the
1 The earliest inscription at the site comes from the Temple No. 12 (Santinatha Temple). The inscription is dated in Samvat 919 (A.D. 862).
2 These auspicious dreams were seen by the respective mothers of all the twenty-four Jinas immediately after the formation of their foetus.
Some of the peculiar tri-tirthika Jina images of Deogarh contain the figures of Sarasvati and Bahubali, the son of Rsabhanatha. For details consult my papers-'A Unique Tri-tirthika Jina Image from Deogarh', Lalit Kala, No. 17, pp. 41-42; 'A Note on Some Bahubali Images from North India', East and West, New Series, Vol. 23, Nos. 3-4, Sept-Dec 1973, pp. 352-53.
Rsabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Sambhavanatha, Abhinandana, Padmaprabha, Suparsvanatha, Candraprabha, Santinatha, Neminatha, Parsvantha, Mahavira.
5 However, the concrete manifestations of the Yaksas were not popular at the site and only a few instances of Gomukha and Kubera (or Sarvanubhuti) Yaksas are available at the site.
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