Jain Journal 1985 01

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

Page 21

A Caturvimasti-patta Metal Image
from Bhagalpur
AJOY KUMAR SINHA
The Svetambara Jaina Temple, Campanagar? (a suburb of the Bhagalpur town) has a very good collection of metal images. The present author has selected a caturvimšati-pațța or caubisi made out of bronze for iconographic study. The caturvimšati-pattas have been treated as most auspicious and almost all Jaina temples contain it inside their sanctum A devotee may keep such small metal shrine like image with them even during travels. It also simplifies the purpose of worshipping all the twenty four Jinas at one place.
The caturvimšati-patta under discussion measures twentyseven centimetres in height and sixteen centimetres in width. It is inscribed on the back from which we know that it was installed in the samvat 1551 (A.D. 1494). The mūlanāyaka in this iconic representation is Bhagavan Adinatha, the first Jaina Tirthankara. He is seated in the centre on a cushion placed upon a lion-throne in padmāsana posture. He is in deep meditation. The śrīvatsa mark over his chest is very prominent. The entire representation is in the form of a shrine in whose central sanctum, Bhagavan Adinatha's figure has beautifully been casted by the master artists of mediaeval India. There are two standing Tirthankaras (in kāyotsarga mudrā) by the side of the mūlanāyaka. Further by the side of the mūlanāyaka's halo are two seated Tirthankaras also in deep meditation. The umbrella surmounting Bhagavan Adinatha is artistic. Two truncated elephants are shown on either side of the umbrella. In the lower frieze, Bhagavan Adinatha's śāsanadevatā and śāsanadevi have been depicted by whose sides we find the divine musicians and dancers. Just below this frieze, the dharmacakra (the wheel of Law) is beautifully curved. In the lowermost frieze, goddess Santidevi can be seen just in the middle of the pañcaratha pedestal. Two devotees, male and female, are standing on the either side in the añjalimudrā. Remaining nineteen Tirthankaras have been arranged by the maker of this shrine in a very attractive manner. All of them are shown seated
1 Sinha, Ajoy Kumar, Jaina Shrines in Bhagalpur', Jaina Antiquary, Vol. 36 No. 2 (Arrah, 1983), pp.22-23.