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A Note on the Colossal lina Image of Garr
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When an image is very lofty, it may not have beauty, or while having both loftiness and beauty it may lack in the supernatural power of the soul In order to have all at a time in one image the artist in some instances have sacrificed a bit of loftiness The colossal image of Jina carved at the fort wall of Gwalior is very high but it lacks the beauty of inner tranquillity The colossal iniages of Tirthankara at Gandhavala (Devas, MP) and Garh (Alwar, Rajasthan)lacklostiness but are remarkable for serene expression and beauty
The colossal image of Tirthankara at Garh (Alwar) does not lack the majestic expression and beauty though it is lesser in height in comparison with the colossal images in other parts of India This ruined tem le of Tirthankara is a part of the group of eighteen temples of Paranagar, which is known at present as Garh or Nilakantha near Alwar The site of Paranagar was also known as Rajyapura in the ancient times 7 Rajyapura was the capital of the Bargujara chiefs At present it is a village known as Rajorgarh at a distance of two miles from these temples The group of temples at this place consists of both the Jaina and the Brahmanic temples Amongst them the temple of Nilakantha is the only one which is intact to some extent and the remaining ones are in a dilapidated condition The colossal image of Tirthan kara, which is locally known as the Nowgaza is placed in a ruined temple at Garh The image is nude and stands erect in the Kayotsarga mudra with serene expression and a smile Specially the inner peace and tranquillity reflected in this image have made it more akin to the Buddha images of the Gupta period The face of this image resembles so much the face of Buddha in expression that some scholars like Bharatendu Harishchandra overlooked its nudity and committed the mistake of identifying it as a statue of Buddha 8 The image is caryed on a pink sandstone, which adds a peculiar grace to the statue The figure of Jina is 13' 9' high with a Canopy of 2' 6' over its head The canopy consists of three parasols which are supported by two elephants The whole height of the sculpture is 1630 and its breadth 6 feet as was measured by Cunningham The image stands at present in the mandapa of the ruined
7 Indian Archaeology A Review, 1961-62, p 85 8 R L Mitra, 'Donative Inscription from Rajaurgarh near Alwar', Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1879, p 158 9 A Cunningham, Report of the Tour in Eastern Rajputana, ASI, Vol XX, 1885, p. 125
