Jaina Archaeological Heritage of Tamilnadu

Author(s): A Ekambarnathan
Publisher: Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

Page 78

JAINA PAINTINGS
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tree laden with flowers and fruits; several other celestials are shown worshipping her. This was perhaps an early painting of Ambika yaksi, datable to the phase before the Vijaynagar paintings.
These and the later paintings at Tirumalai have been studied by scholars like, Stella Kramrisch, C.Sivaramamurti, K.V.Soundarajan and others. They have described the Samavasarana paintings and those of the yaksi also.
The painting of the Samavasarana is executed on the brick walls of the outermost cell. One of the components of the Samavasarana, the Lakshmivara mandapa covers the entire height of the wall. Enclosing this structure both on the top and bottom are ornate and decorative borders with a band of hamsas, which converge on top of the Tirthankara where a kirtimukha motif is depicted.
The painting of the Lakshmivara mandapa is faded, but it exactly recalls descriptions of it given in texts like the Sripurana. It is a circular pavilion which has its focal point, the Gandhakuti or the perfumed hall, where the Tirthankara is shown seated preaching to the world.
Four horse shoe shaped entrances have been provided from the four main cardinal directions, dividing the circular pavilion into four quarters, this is further divided into smaller sections called the kosthas. Each of these kosthas were provided for souls in different stages of spiritual evolution, like animals, human beings or celestials who had come together to hear the Jina's divine discourse.
As we go in a clockwise direction, these kosthas are occupied by the Bhavanavasidevas on the top followed by the Vyantara, Jyotishka, Kalpavasidevas, For Private & Personal Use Only