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APRIL, 1981
155
Of the five images so far reported, three are as yet not illustrated; the images so far published are from Deogarh and Prabhasa Patan, Gujarat.
The image of Bahubali hailing from Prabhasa Patan, Gujarat, now deposited in the Junagarh Museum (fig. 2), is much mutilated but the ant-hills and the shade of a tree overhead with two hovering mālādharas are clearly visible. The sky-clad Bahubali stands in the kāyotsarga-mudrā with his hands and thighs entwined by a climbing plant. On both his sides are rendered two standing figures, now severely damaged. The image hewn out of buff-coloured sandstone is assigned, on stylistic grounds, to c. 9th century. It is perhaps the earliest image of Bahubali hitherto discovered from North India.
The next image of Bahubali, coming as it does from Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), is perhaps the second earliest image of Bahubali from North India. This sculpture carved on the southern outer wall of the main temple of the Parsvanatha temple (A.D. 954), is also the only example of a Bahubali image in Khajuraho.6 Bahubali, nude and in kāyotsarga-mudra, with arms reaching down to the knees, stands on a simple pedestal supported by two round pilasters at the two extremities. A carpet bearing a flower design hangs down from the pedestal, below which, in the centre, is carved a dharmacakra flanked by two lions, suggesting simhāśana. The creepers entwine the legs and the arms of Bahubali, while on the chest and belly parts creep lizards and scorpions. His chest is marked with the śrivatsa symbol and the hair is in the usual schematic curls. On either side of Bahubali stands a female attendant figure holding the end of the twisting vine. These female attendants are peculiar to the North Indian Bahubali images only. (The tv figures, perhaps, represent the two vidyādharis, who according to the Digambara Purāņas, removed the entwining creepers from the body of Bahubali.) The South Indian Bahubali images in Ellora and Aihole, though nude, show the standing figures of the two sisters of Bahubali dressed like princesses, wearing crown and other ornaments. The depiction of the sisters was omitted in all known Digambara sculptures of Bahubali from North India, in accordance with the Digambara tradition which does not speak about the presence of the two sisters at the
5 M. A, Dhaky, H, P. Shastri, 'Ancient Jaina Temples of Prabhasa Patan' (Guja· rati), Swadhyaya, 3, 3, pp. 328-29. & The author regrets he is unable to illustrate this image.
latam vyapanayantibhyam khecatribhyam babhau munih--Harivamsa Purana, 11.101. Cf. vidyadharyah kadacicca krida-heto upagatah/vallirudvestayamasur muneh sarvangasanginih/-Adipurana, vol II, 36,183.
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