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MONUMENTS & SCULPTURE A.D. 1300 TO 1800
(PART VI
The few typical illustrations given here exemplify the artistic development of the period.
Plate 227 represents a sarvatobhadra with Jina images in dhyânâsana from the Ujjain area. The lion-figures on the pedestal are crudely carved. The Jaina statues from Pajnari and Patna, near Rehli, both District Sagar, illustrate the decay of the sculptural art during the period (plate 228A, B).
The colossal Jinas in the Gwalior fort (plate 229A, B) belong to a distinct type. The poor anatomy can clearly be seen particularly in the unproportioned legs and hands. The depiction of elephants and attendants relieves the monotony to some extent.
Plate 230A, B represents the upper parikaras of Tirthańkara images showing artistic degeneration. They are respectively in the Digambara Jaina Sangrahālaya, Ujjain, and the Gwalior Museum.
On plate 231 A five bāla-yatis are seen standing erect, with their hands on thighs. Any aesthetic sense is conspicuous by its absence here.
Some of the Deva figures carved during the period do, however, indicate a sense of proportion and elegance. Compare, for example, plate 231B, where a Vidyadhara holds a heavy garland. The headless Ambika from Shivpuri (plate 232A) and a Sāsana-devi from Ujjain (plate 232B) show the lingering of the earlier art-tradition.
Late medieval Jaina temples of the period, such as those at Badoh, District Vidisha, and at Pajnari, District Sagar (plate 233A, B), show none of the rich architectural creations of the earlier period and are sometimes characterized by late medieval Rajput features, as the one at Malhargarh (plate 234A). The ornamental ceiling of the temple at Kolha near Bhanpura, District Mandsaur, recalls its counterparts in west-Indian temples (plate 234B).
Κ. D. BΑΙΡΑΣ
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