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CHAPTER 381.
about 1:06 m. in height. The other image bears an inscription of Vikramasarhvat 744 on the pedestal, which records that it was cast by Sivanaga... for the spiritual benefit of acquiring right knowledge, right action and right faith.' The Vasantgarh group also contains some other bronzes, noteworthy among which is one of Sarasvati who holds a lotus-stalk in her right hand and a manuscript in the left. Her crown is elaborate, with a sun-disc atop and makara-head on either side. The halo, in the form of a dotted rim, reminds us of similar haloes from northern and western India. The hoard also contains some Jaina bronzes of the eighth-ninth centuries.
BIKANER MUSEUM
There are a dozen bronzes from Amarsar, now preserved in the Bikaner Museum. This group includes a cauri-bearer, which, from the artistic point of view, is highly attractive. A sitting Pärsvanatha is illustrated here (plate 355). The collection also includes one of the two famous marble Sarasvatis, discovered at Pallu in Bikaner District, a superb specimen of Cahamana art (above, plates 154 and 337).
MUSEUMS IN INDIA
AHAR MUSEUM, UDAIPUR
Ahar (Aghāṭapura, near Udaipur) seems to have been a centre of Jaina art during the early medieval period. An early medieval Jaina bronze was unearthed about thirty years ago. Now preserved at the Museum at Ahar, it is more than life-size in height and shows a seated Tirthankara in a meditative pose (plate 356A).
PRATAP MUSEUM, UDAIPUR
The Pratap Museum has in its collection a fifth-sixth century headless statue of Ambika carved out of local greenish-blue schist (pärevä). Its findspot is Jagat (District Udaipur). The goddess carries a bunch of mango-twigs in the right hand and holds a baby on her lap with the left. There is, however, no Jaina emblem as such on the image. This collection has also a rare statue of Jaina Kubera (plate 356B). Datable to the eighth-ninth century, it is carved out of greenish blue schist. Its findspot is Bansi in Chitor District. The seated deity holds a citron in the right hand and a money-bag (nakulaka) in the left. A couchant elephant is shown below. Above the curly hair of Kubera is an attractive crown studded with the miniature figure of a Jina and another similar figure still above.
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