Book Title: Jaina Rock Cut Caves In Western India Part 01
Author(s): Viraj Shah
Publisher: Agam Kala Prakashan

Previous | Next

Page 196
________________ 170 Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India brackets (Fig. 50c). The southern face of the base has a few mouldings with a triangular plate. At the ends are pilasters (Fig. 50d) The hall is 4m wide along the back and 3.75m in the front and is 3.87m deep. The ceiling is 1.98m high. It is plain and empty. There are two water cisterns in front of the cave. Of these, one is 1.2m by 0.92m and the other is 2.04m by 1.92m. The largerr cistern still remains filled with water, while the smaller one is filled with debris. Sculptures The only sculptures carved in situ are the dvärapalas on the bases of verandah pillars in the lower storey. 1. Dvārapala: 0.81m by 0.37m. This figure is very unclear, as the rock has weathered away. He has a chauri in the right hand, held near the shoulder. The left hand is near the waist. The object in this hand is not clear. Only the lower garment and anklets are visible. 2. Dvärapala: 0.84m by 0.37m. The figure stands in abhanga with the right hand rested on a gada, kept upside down on the ground and the left hand on the hip. He wears karanda crown earringss, anklets and lower garment. Cave II This cave is also double storied. The lower storey has a verandah, a hall, an antechamber and a shrine (Fig. 51a, Plate 113). The upper storey is unfinished. It has verandah, a roughly blocked out hall and a shrine (Fig. 51b). It is the grandest of the caves because the verandahs of both the floors are enclosed with perforated screens and there are two large lions outside the verandah of the upper storey that are visible from some distance also. Lower storey The verandah is 7.6m wide and 3.7m deep on the right and 3.55m deep on the left. The verandah ceiling is 2.95m high. In front of the verandah, there is a long platform with two steps on its left end. There are remains of a large elephant figure on each end. Only parts of legs are extant on each side. Unlike Cave I, the verandah is here closed with a perforated screen. The screen is on low walls with a plain door in the middle. The wall on the right is destroyed and has been restored recently. In the centre of the screen, there is a pilaster (Fig. 52a). The screen has four horizontal rows of six squares in each row with the motif of cross bar. At each end of the verandah is a platform, which is fashioned into a plinth with the mouldings on two sides. It has bhitta, antarpatta, karņika, antarpatta and kapota (Fig. 51c). Inside the verandah at the ends are icons of Sarvänubhuti-Ambikā. The floor of the verandah is now plastered as the icon of Ambikā is worshipped as Kālika Devi.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412