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Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
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ing a flower or a camara (2) in his right hand while with his left hand he holds a vessel.278 But just below it sits a child with a raised right hand which reaches the vessel. On the left of the tree stands a female with a child held by her left hand and a flower-like object held in her right hand. No lanchana of the Jina is shown. It is difficult to explain the Jina's position above the tree if this is a kalpa-vrksa. It cannot be a caitya-tree if the main object intended here is the Tirthankara because then he would be sitting under a caitya-tree. We believe that perhaps here also the Parents of a Jina are the main objects of worship intended to be represented. What Tiwari seems to have missed is the explanation of a child below the left hand of the male figure.
Tiwari says that since images of Nemi and Mahavira, earlier than ninth century, are not found in Gujarat and Rajasthan, this fact suggests somewhat limited (or relatively less) popularity of these two Jinas than of Rşabha and Pārsva whose images of sixth-seventh century are found at Akota.279 Unfortunately Tiwari is fond of drawing conclusions based on such a negative evidence. He perhaps does not know that there is in worship a beautiful image of Mahavira worshipped as Jivantasvāmi at Nändia, Rajasthan, near Abu and Sirohi area. This beautiful sculpture dates from the seventh century A.D. Here Mahavira is not shown with a crown etc. He is sitting in padmasana. But Svetămbara Jaina tradition worships this image as Jivantasyāmi. Again the find of two very early i.e. one of late fifth and the other of sixth century) images of Jivantasvāmi in the Akota hoard means worship of Mahävira himself in Gujarat. Jaina traditions associate Neminátha and Krsna with Dvārakā and Mt. Raivataka (Girnar). Harivamsa of Jinasena, a Digambara writer, was composed at Wadhavan in Saurashtra according to the author himself. Harivamsa is the family of Kęspa and Neminátha whose account is the subject matter of Jinasena's famous Purana.
There are about eight sculptures of Neminātha, assigned to the mediaeval period, in the Lucknow Museum. All except no. 66.53 belong to the Digambara tradition. When the yaksa and yakşi are shown in these images dating from the tenth to twelfth century, they are the yakșa Sarvānubhūti and the yakşi Ambika. No. J.793 in the museum is a Neminátha obtained from Bateśvara near Agra. Here the Jina is accompanied by Balarama and Krsna, each two-armed. The conch is shown on top of the simhāsana, in the centre. No. 0.123 in the Lucknow Museum is a black stone sculpture of Neminātha standing, from Chattarpur, M.P. with an inscription on the pedestal giving the date of installation as samvat 1208=A.D. 1151. At the end of the small inscription is carved a figure of the conch cognizance. The Jina is standing and wears no garment, but has hair-locks on shoulders.
A sculpture of Neminátha sitting on a simhāsana with the conch lañchana carved on the lower rim of the throne and with cămaradharas, mälädharas, triple umbrella, halo and the Caitya-tree as members of the parikara is preserved in the Mathura Museum. The dharmacakra is shown in the centre of the throne. No yakşa apd yakşi are shown. The sculpture dates from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. The Lucknow Museum has a standing Neminātha from Maihar, M.P., with Sarvånubhūti and Ambikā as the sasana-devatās on one side of the Jina. In the parikara, as noted by Tiwari, there is a four-armed goddess showing the lotus in two hands and the abhaya mudra and the kalasa in the remaining hands. No. J.936, dated in 1177 A.D., is a figure of a Jina sitting in padmāsana and with Sarvänubhūti as attendant Śāsana-yakşa. There is no yakşi figure, no lañchana. Tiwari identifies this figure as Neminātha simply because Sarvānubhūti figures as the yakşa. This is a rather doubtful procedure because we know that for a long time from c. sixth century upto the eleventh and sometimes a little later yakşa Sarvānubhūti and variations of his form figure as yaksa of any of the 24 Jinas, along with Ambikā as yakşi even at Ellora, Abu, Kumbharia etc. This will be more clear in the chapter on Yaksa Worship in Jainism.
No. J.858 in the same museum shows the cognizance as well as Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā. The sculpture hails from Sahet-Mahet, the site of Sravasti, and is identified as Neminātha with the help of the cognizance.
There are more than two dozen sculptures of Neminātha at Devgadh, all of the Digambara tradition, including several figures showing Neminātha standing in the kāyotsarga mudra. In all cases when the cognizance is not given, nor is there an inscription; then merely on the evidence of Sarvānubhùti and Ambik, we cannot identify such sculptures as definitely representing Neminātha. In our earlier writings
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