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PAINTING
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is very clear. The cross-legged figure in the yogu pose has the serpent with five hoods over its head, a feature which marks Pärsvanatha out casily (Plate 5). Though Suparsvanatha, the 7th Tirthankara, ought also to have this distinguishing maik, the absence of the svastika in this case, which as we know is an additional mark required for Suparśvanatha, proves beyond any doubt that Pārśvanatha was alone intended. The three other Tirthankaras inside the cell remain for the present unidentified, in the absence of the lañchhanas appropriate to them. But, as they are all in the samparyanka attitude, with no trace of any kind of drapery or ornament or the yajñopavita on them, a feature shared by the two others outside, we have no hesitation in calling them all Tirthankaras and the cave itself a Jaina cave. The carving of these sculptures is marvellous for its precision and excellence of anatomy. The figures are natural and carry themselves with a grace though in a erect posture like a flame that flickereth not in windless space.'
The curface of the rock inside has been given a finish to suit it for the subsequent fresco-process. "The figures carved are not finished as such, for that was left to the painter's plaster and brush". The cave was intended, even when it was actually carved, to be painted over inside, The paintings must have originally covered the whole of the interior as there are traces of colour today on the ceiling, the pillars and their capitals.
Its Painting
From a verse, "Saiveyam mama citrakarmaracanã bhittim vinā vartale" found in the well-known Sanskrit drama "Mudrā Rākṣasa" by Visakhadatta of the 6th Century A.D. we get to know that "Bhitti-citra" ie., wall or fresco-painting
