________________
JANUARY, 1993
159
The border of this panel is decorated with bold but simple four petalled full blown flowers touching each other in a continuous pattern with small semicircles along the frame carved to fill in the vacant space in between two petals of flowers.
Frieze 3 : 22x43.5x6 cms.
This frieze delineates a procession of Gods proceeding towards deräsara wherein an image of Tirthankara is installed. They are shown seated in their respective vehicles. The first on the right side is Moon God in his chariot drawn by a pair of deer. He is followed by the seven trunked celestial elephant, Airāvata of God Indra.
The chariot of Moon is a four-wheeled carriage. The construction of the wheels and yoke is similar to veladun type of carriage seen in the earlier panel. The domed roof which is a typical feature of the chariot is missing here.
The two deer are carved with great care. Their entwined horns and a small raised tail make identification clear. They are fully decorated with zul, straps and chain of bells. Their raised tail and position of legs suggest that they are moving with speed towards deräsara.
In this papel, figure of Moon God is very interesting. Like the figure of Tirthaikara in the previous panel, he is also shown facing sideways instead of front of carriage on right. He is seated crosslegged with an open book in his right hand and the object in his left hand is not recognisable. In the rear right hand, he is holding (dhvajā) and in the rear left hand mace (gadā). He wears a crown with petalled designs similar to one shown on the head of Goddess Lakşmi in one of the kaksāsana panels of the Wadi Parsyapātha temple from PatanAnahilwada mentioned earlier.
The ayudhas of God in this panel are rather unusual. However, identification of deity is possible, as the circle surrounding his without rays like a simple disc of a full moon with the head of Moon peeping out of it and the animals employed for drawing the chariot are deer as seen earlier. Moreover, the book in the hand of the God suggests his close association with learning and especially poetry for which Moon is celebrated.
6 Burgess and Cousens, op. cit.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
