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PAINTINGS AND WOOD-CARVINGS
[PART VII
palanquin accompanied by elephant-riders in front and horse-riders in the rear, making it clear that the figures are royal indeed. The way the male figure has tightly held a support to hold his balance is noteworthy and shows the minute observation of the wood-carver. The pole-bearers have also been depicted with a rare sense of realism.
Another very interesting frieze showing the marriage-procession of Tirthankara Neminatha has recently been acquired by famous art-connoisseur of Bombay, Shri Haridas K. Swali. It is 2:28 m. long and 25 cm. high and still retains a thick coating of paint. From left to right, it shows two equestrian figures and a bullock-cart, trumpet-blower and drummer, a royal figure holding garlands in both hands accompanied by female figures, marriage-mand apa, house-scene, animals and a scene showing preparation of sweets for marriage. The mand apa scene showing piled-up pots, festive hangings and sacred fire is quite interesting and gives us a glimpse of sixteenth-seventeenth-century Patan (Gujarat), its probable date and place of carving. The other scene showing preparation of eatables is quite amusing. While two figures are busy stirring up some thing in a large bowl on fire, a figure is seen quietly picking up some sweets unnoticed from the rack near by.
CONCLUSION
The foregoing discussion shows the wide range and variety of Jaina woodcarvings. They not only help us to reconstruct the social history of the period but also fill up the lacunae of art-history. All these carvings, though small in size, reflect the tastes of their rich Jaina patrons who believed in embellishing every inch of space available on their house-shrines or temples. As a medium, wood lent its support to the carvers to carve highly decorative scenes, thereby preserving a rich heritage for posterity. Though mostly religious, these carvings provide us with interesting social gleanings of the contemporary life. In wood-carvings, the Jaina patrons took a lead over their Hindu or Buddhist counterparts.
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V. P. DWIVEDI
