Jain Journal 1982 07

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

Page 40

JULY, 1982
on a couchant lion under a stylized tree which forms an arch over her head. She lends support to a child seated on her left lap with her left hand, while in her right she holds an indistinct object, possibly a fruit. A miniature female figure holding and caressing another child is shown as seated on her right side. The features of the śāsanadevi as well as that of the attendant at her side are all badly effaced.
The lion mount, appearence of a child in her lap, and another with her attendant, argues well for the identification of the śāsanadevi as Ambika the yakşi of the twentysecond Tirthankara Neminatha (Aristanemi). Of her chief marks of identificationthe mango-tree or a bunch of mangoes could not be located with any certainty due to the worn out
ndition of the lower register of the stele. The stylized tree above the šāsanadevi may however be explained as an indication of a mango-tree ladden with fruits, which probably it is but for its eroded state of preservation. Similarly, the object held by the yakşi in her right hand could well have been a mango. Another interesting feature of the relief is the spacing of the Jina and his sāsanadevi in almost equal size contrary to the prevalent practices.
The sense of volume and depth as conveyed by the figures contains the lingering grace and charm of the late Gupta art. This will attribute the stele to a date of about 8th-9th century A.D. on stylistic grounds.
In view of the discovery of this important Jaina relief the areas around Sulgi mouza, under the Taldangra P. S. of Bankura district, will merit a thorough exploration in order to reveal the vestiges of possible Jaina shrine or settlement.
Cf., Pratisthasaroddhara, 176, quoted by Jyotindra Jain and Eberhard Fischer in their Jaina Iconography, Part Two, Leiden, 1978, p. 24, and the discussion following. See also, B. C. Bhattacharya, The Jaina Iconography, Delhi, 1974, pp. 103-104; and U. P. Shah, "Iconography of the Jaina Goddess Ambika", Journal of the
University of Bombay, Vol. 9, No. 2, Bombay, 1940, pp. 147-169. 5 For Jaina antiquities discovered in Bankura district, see among others, Debala
Mitra, “Some Jaina Antiquities from Bankura, West Bengal", Journal of the Asiatic Society, Letters, Vol. xxiv, No. 2, Calcutta, 1958, pp.131-134, pls. I to X; Amiya Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Bankura Jelar Purakirti (in Bengali), Calcutta, 1975.