Jaina Mahavidyas in Osian

Author(s): Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari, Kamalgiri
Publisher: Z_Nirgrantha_1_022701.pdf and Nirgrantha_2_022702.pdf and Nirgrantha_3_022703.pdf

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Maruti Nandan....
Nirgrantha
evident from the figure of the goddess on the main temple, where the four-armed goddess stands with an arrow (?), a sword, a shield and a bow and the horse carved as her mount alongside (Plate 9). The devakulikā figures exhibit identical details as noticed in case of the main temple (Plate 10), excepting a solitary instance, carved on the doorway of the devakulikā No. 2, where she is depicted as six-armed. Sometimes, the attributes are juxtaposed. In three examples, the lower two arms show abhaya and a fruit (or a water-vessel). However, in one case, carved on the doorway of the devakulikā No. 3, she surprisingly holds rein, which together with the horse is reminiscent of Brahminical demi-god Revanta, son of Mitra. The six-armed figure carries the varada, a sword, an arrow, a shield, a bow and a fruit. The four-armed Acchuptā, in the group of 16 Mahāvidyas in the Säntinātha temple, Kumbhāriā, shows identical attributes as in the figure on main temple. However, the sword and shield are replaced by the varadāksa and a water-vessel in the instance of the rangamandpa ceiling of Vimala vasahi. (The figure of Mahāvidyā Acchuptā at Osiāñ has influenced the form of yakși of Padmaprabha on temple No. 12 at Deogarh, where she is called Sulocanā. Here the four-armed yakşi, accompanied by a horse, holds an arrow and a bow in her two hands61) Mānasī, the 15th Mahāvidyā, is represented by a solitary instance at the site, carved on the northern vedibandha of the devakulika No. 4. The two-armed goddess here rides a hamsa and holds a thunderbolt in the right hand while the corresponding left is resting on thigh. The figure agrees with the tradition in respect of váhana and vajra. The Śvetāmbara works notice her either with two or four arms and invariably riding a hamsa. The goddess, when two-armed, holds varada and a thunderbolta, while the goddess with four arms carries two vajras in two upper hands and the varada and a rosary in the lower ones63. It may be recalled that Mānasi does not find representation on the main temple, simply because the earliest tradition, referring to Mānasi, conceives her as riding a hamsa and holding flames, thus combining the features of the two Mahāvidyās, Manasī and Mahājvālā, in one. The 16th Mahavidyā Mahāmānasi is represented by 12 examples, two over the mukhacatuṣki and the gūdhamandapa of the main temple, while the remaining on the devakulikās6 The goddess thus claims the highest popularity at the site and her form shows greater variety with two, four, or six arms. Like Rohini, Apraticakrā, and Acchuptā, the iconography of Mahāmānasi was settled at the site in c. eighth century A. D., which is revealed by her figures on the main temple. The figures follow the Svetāmbara tradition which conceives the four-armed goddess with a lion as vāhana and holding a sword, a shield, a water-vessel and the abhaya or varada-mudrā (or maņi) The figures on the main temple are four-armed and show the goddess as riding a lion and bearing the abhaya-mudrā, a sword, a shield and a fruit (?)67 Barring two figures, carved on the eastern and southern vedibandha of the devakulikä Nos. 1 and 2 where the vāhana is conspicuous by its absence, all other figures are invariably accompanied by a lion. The two-armed Mahāmānasī, bearing a sword and