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

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Page 204
________________ 178 Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India small figure of a seated male. Above the makara on the left is a small standing figure of a male devotee. 2. Ambika: 2.93m by 2.42m. The panel is better preserved than that of Sarvānubhuti. But the panel is broken through, on the right. It is similar to the figure in Cave II with minor differences. The head and the hands of the child in the lap are destroyed. To Ambika's right is shown the other child, standing and facing the front. His hands are partially broken, while the head is gone. His right hand is raised up and in the left hand is held the fold of the garment. There is a trace of a long necklace. There is a large male figure seated on an elephant and holding a long staff to Ambika's right. He has a bun on his head and his fully decked. Though he faces the front, his head is slightly turned towards Ambikā. The elephant is too small in comparison with the man above. It is difficult to identify this figure. He could be soine important local official or a donor. Above him, there is a female devotee, seated in vamalalitasana on a moulded pedestal with hands are in añjali mudra. There is an icon of Sarasvati above the right pilaster. This four-armed figure is seated in Vāmalalitasana with a flower in the upper right hand, a book in the lower left hand and a vina held with remaining two hands. Above the left pilaster is a male in bhujangatrasita mudra. His hands are near the knees holding a Kamandalu in each hand. He is on a throne, above which is a deity flanked by two pilasters. The figure in the centre is of a female deity. She is seated in Vāmalalitāsana on a plain pedestal. In her two hands are long objects, which are not clear. The throne back is pointed upwards. It is difficult to identify this figure. He could be some Brāhmana performing penance. On the second pilaster is a figure of a female standing in dvibhanga with the right hand hanging down, holding a ghata and a long danda or plantain like object in the left hand. It is difficult to identify this figure, but it could be some local fertility goddess. 3. Standing Santinatha: 2.35m by 1.4m. This elaborate panel with pilasters and toraņa arch covers the entire height of the wall. The upper portion of the panel, including the torana, the triple chhatra of the Jina, figures flanking the chhatra and the kalasa portion of the pilasters, is structural. It is made of separate block of stone and placed here. The Jina figure, measuring 1.65m by 0.59m, stands in kayotsarga mudrä on a throne. The hair on the head is shown in dots, while on each shoulder are three curls of hair. He has a protruding, diamond-shaped śrivatsa on the chest and long ears touching the shoulders. Above the head is a triple chhatra topped by a kalasa below which, the tree of the Jina is shown in the form of two leaves on the left. The throne has five compartments with a wheel in the central one and elephants and lions in the side compartments. Below the wheel is the lañchhana of the Jina, a deer, flanked by a devotee figure, seated with hands in anjali. Thus, even though the Jina has hair on the shoulders, it is an icon of the sixteenth tirthankara, Santinatha. The Jina is lustrated by an elephant with upturned pitcher in the trunk, depicted flanking the chhatra. The elephants wear a band on the stomach and in the neck. There are two riders on each elephant, a female with a pitcher in the hands and a small figure of

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