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ART-OBJECTS IN MUSEUMS
[PART X
a sihhdsana. He is flanked by a Tirthankara in kayotsarga-pose along with. an attendant on either side; while two other images of Tirthankaras are shown in meditation around his halo. The niche above the head of the main figure has an elephant and is crowned by an umbrella. Lion, the cognizance of Mahavira, is depicted in front between the two crouching lions supporting his seat. The seated figures of Mätanga and Siddhayika, the Yakşa and Yaksi of the Jina, are depicted on either side of the lion-throne. The base in front has a dharma-cakra symbol in the centre with a deer and the Nava-grahas on its either side. Two human figures, representing the donors of the image, are seated at extreme ends with their hands held in anjali-mudra. The big protruding eye, flat nose, rounded and heavy limbs and flattened torso suggest a late date for this image, probably the fifteenth century.
A crudely-executed image of Tirthankara, probably hailing from Bihar, shows him seated in dhyana-mudrd under an umbrella and attended by a caurlbearer on either side. The middle panel of the sculpture shows a male and female probably representing the Yakṣa and Yakşi of the Tirthankara seated side by side. The male holds a child in his lap and carries a flower in the left hand. The female, whose right hand is partly damaged, has her one son seated on her right and the other in the left lap. In the absence of any positive evidence it is not possible to identify these figures. The lowermost panel depicts five dwarfish figures in different mood and poses. An image from eastern Uttar Pradesh, now displayed in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, Vārāņasī, would be a good example for a comparative study with this image. Stylistically, the image can be assigned to the early Päla period, circa eighth century.
A badly-damaged metal sculpture, probably hailing from Bihar, also shows Tirthankara seated in dhyana-mudra on a rectangular pedestal. Though the cognizance of the deity is not visible, his identity with Rsabhanatha is certain from his locks of hair flowing on the shoulders. The plain circular halo with flames emanating on its border suggests the date of the image as the Pala period, ninth-tenth century.
Four images from Orissa of Eastern Ganga tradition, taken out of India in the last century, now form part of the famous Bridge collection of the Department of the Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. A finely-executed stone image shows nude Ṛşabhanatha and Mahävira standing side by side in kayotsarga-pose with hands hanging along the sides (plate 318A). Rabhanatha wears a high jată-mukuta and his locks are trailing on the shoulders. Mahavira has his hair nicely arranged into small spiral curls and surmounted by a cranial
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