Book Title: Jain Temples of Rajasthan
Author(s): Sehdav Kumar
Publisher: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Art Abhinav Publications

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Page 170
________________ The colossal statue of Gommata at Sravanabelgola is the largest of its kind not only in India but in the world. This statue of Gommata has been the model for all later images in India. Earlier pieces, however, show long locks of hair hanging over his shoulders, in the manner of his father Rşabhanātha. There are other Gommața statues, usually on top of hills and visible from large distances. Of these, the two Gommata statues, one at Karkal and the other at Venur are examples of striking artistic creations. The Gommața statue at Karkal, created in 143132 A.D., is about 12.5 m high and is made of a solid block of gneiss. Estimated to weigh eighty tonnes, "the figure is made to lean against a slab which reaches up to its wrists. There is a round pedestal which is sunk into a thousand-petalled lotus flower. The colossus stands on a platform of stones and is surrounded by a stone railing and two laterite enclosures... The legs and arms of the figure are entwined with vines (draksa creeper). On both sides of the feet a number of snakes are cut out of the slab against which the image leans." ! * Slxteen vidyddevis in the rangemandape in the Vimalavaathi temple.

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