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NORTH WESTERN CAVES C. NAMINATHA GROUP
Going further towards north from the Girnar caves and turning towards west, we come across the Dondha Gate. The wide sprawling greenish slope of the hill-range on the northern side of the Gate contains another group of five caves, of these only three contain some images. Other two were left unfinished. They are located on a high attitude and could be identified as the Namigiri Group of caves from the famous cave of Naminatha,(Plate 28) the twenty first Tirthankara in the Jain pantheon of Tirthankaras.
NAMIGIRI CAVE (Cave - 2):
This is usually identified as Cave 2. This is a cave of importance in this group as it houses a huge image of Naminatha. From outside, it is seen in two chambers with two openings one over the other. On either side of the lower opening, corresponding to the main entrance, there are two flat columns projected from the rock surface.
The rectangular columns starting from the door sill, go beyond three-and-half meters, from the lintel, where a projecting parapet forms the floor level of the upper chamber. The facade of this chamber as seen from outside, is more ornate with conically projecting capitals over the carved pillar joints. Again, a similar projection, as found in the lower one forms the ceiling of the upper chamber.
Above the parapet, corresponding to the two openings, an ornate temple shikhara motif is sculptured. It has a conical superstructure with a kalasha at the top. The style of the shikhara speaks of the temples of the late Middle ages (see Plate 28). It has two squarishly projected niches one over the other in the centre. They contain the standing images of Tirthankaras.
Getting back to the lower opening of the dvara of the cave, we find that it is connected by a narrow flight of steps along the slope Here we come across the rectangular front opening of the lower chamber measuring 5 x 2.5 m. leading to the inner room space of 10 x 6 m. which is quite dark. It contains the pedestal of the image 5 m. high as seen in the centre and a flight of steps along the northern wall. The pedestal occupies most of the space in the lower chamber. Getting up to the upper chamber along the stair way, it is found that this chamber has the same plinth area as the lower. But it appears more spacious because the upper part of the image occupies less space in the centre. Moreover, it is clearly lit up by the sun during the major part of the day. Nevertheless, the pedestal and the steps as seen in the lower chamber are minimised in the upper.
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