________________
જૈન યુગ
ડિસેમ્બર ૧૯૫૯
out as one of the most famous female ascetics of the order of Mahavira.
Stylistically, the scenes are closely related to the miniature paintings in Jaina manuscripts of c. 13th century A.D. The long pointed noses, the squarish faces, etc. are especially noteworthy.
Fig. 2 represents two panels below the above panel, is only a part of the long relief slab depicting scenes from the life of Mahávira. Here are represented scenes of sufferings in different hells, the births as gods in different vimanas, and so on.
Fig. 3 represents further sections to the right of above figures 1 and 2 in the same relief slab. In the upper panel is Queen Trišalā sleeping on a cot and seeing the fourteen dreams, represented in a row in front, i. e. to her left in this panel. These dreams include figures of the elephant, the lion, the bull, the Śri-devī, the Sun and the Moon, the fire, the ocean, and so on as described in the Kalpasūtra and other works dealing with lives of Tirthankaras. The lower panels show Mahāvīra turning a monk by plucking off his hair, handing over the Devadüşya cloth to a Brahmin, and further scenes of upasargas that he bravely faced and patiently endured.
Fig. 4 from the ceiling in front of cell 9 in the temple (Lūnavasahi) built by Tejapāla at Abu is a beautiful specimen of a Jātaka relief slab which encompasses a large number of human and
animal figures in small panels. The central circular portion represents the Samavasarana of Neminátha with three circular fortifications (gadhas). On one side of the Samavasaraņa are standing monks in a long row, on the other are sitting ladies with folded hands. On the right ends of the two central panels is shown a river with aquatic animals and ships. This may also be a part of the ocean near Dvārikā, also represented in the right end of the two lower panels. The warriors, dancers, drummers etc. in these two lowermost panels represent a procession in which Krishna possibly goes to pay his regards to Neminātha in the Samavasaraņa. In the two uppermost panels at one end is the Mount Girnar with its Jaina shrines.
Fig. 5 is from a ceiling in front of the Cell 14 in the Lūņavasahi, Abu. The story represented in these eight panels cannot be identified, in the lower two panels are possibly represented scenes from the life of a Chakravartin or World Conquerer, the third panel from below shows in the centre the goddess Lakşmi, an elephant and a mythical horse, an auspicious garland, a vimāna, etc., which are amongst auspicious objects included in the Jaina lists of dreams. The stylised representation of trees, the beautiful miniature figures of dancers and musicians, the prancing horses, the fighting animals, the warriors in procession are some of the noteworthy features of this relief-slab.
