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Description and Chronology of Caves
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aisle is destroyed, that on the left aisle is four-armed with upper hands held up and the lower hands on knees. In the centre of each stone beam running between pillars and pilasters is carved a lotus, smaller than that on the aisle ceiling (Fig. 62b). The lotus on the stone beam between the right pillar and corresponding pilaster is destroyed. The sides. of the stone beams are carved with different designs such as intricate floral motifs and geometrical patterns. The inner sides of these stone beams have figures of seated Jina, one on each beam. Each of these figures is seated in padmasana with triple chhatra and is placed in a slightly projecting niche formed by pilasters. The Jina in the right aisle is Parsvanatha as testified by the seven-hooded snake above the head. Such Jina figures are also carved on the square portion of brackets of back wall pilasters and pillars. These are carved only on the faces of brackets, which fall in the central aisle...The figure on the bracket of the right pillar is of a male standing in tribhanga with a sword in the right hand and not Jina.
As at Ankai-Tankai, the hall doorway is very ornamental and finely made (Plate 128). It has five śākhās of ratna, patra, stambha, patra and valli. The figures on the pedya of outermost sakha are males, while those on the other sakhas are females. The females on the innermost śakha are kumbhavahinis. The figures on the stambha sakha are of yakṣa Dharanendra on right and yakṣi Padmavati on left. The figure of Dharanendra, standing in tribhanga is four-armed with lower arms destroyed and parsu and pasa in the upper right and left hand respectively. Near his feet, to his left is a small indistinct figure, which seems to be his vahana (Plate 129). The figure of Padmavati is also in tribhanga and is four-armed. The objects in the hands are damaged and thus unidentifiable. She has a three-hooded snake above her head. Near her feet, to the right is her vahana, a kukkutsarpa (Plate 130). These figures are placed within pilastered niches and these. pilasters carry figures of seated Jina on the capital. Under the figures of Dharanendra and Padmavati, there is a four-armed figure of Sarasvati. The figure on the right is seated in vāmalalitāsana, while the one on the left is seated in savylalitasana. The lower hands are on the knees. The object in the inner upper hand seems to be vina and that in the outer hand seems to be a pustaka, but is destroyed. The vahana, a swan, is shown near her feet. Each of these figures is also placed in a niche similar to those of Dharanendra-Padmavati. Under the pedya of the other sakhas are carved swans in compartments. The uttaranga of the doorway has khura type moulding with three projections interspersed by two recesses. On the underside of this moulding is carved a lotus, three quarter in size. Above this moulding are five niches with kalaśa tops. The central niche has seven compartments, while the others have five compartments, each. The central compartment of each niche has a figure of seated Jina, while the other compartments have lozenges decorated with floral design. On the lintel is a seated Jina. On the mandaraka was a chandrasila flanked by kirtimukhas. It is now destroyed. The door fittings are in the form of a round groove in the ceiling and on the sidewall of the door, on each side.
Interestingly, almost entire verandah is built of loose slabs and is not cut of the rock in situ. The back wall, along with the hall doorway, windows, and pilasters, the kakṣāsanas with pillars and benches along the sidewalls are structural. The hall doorway is made of five blocks of stone. The uttaranga, the upper portion till the base of lintel, central part of sakhas, portion of pedya figures and the portion below these figures, each is carved of a different block of stone. The pilasters on the sidewalls and in the corners,
