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JAINA SCULPTURES IN BHARAT KALA BHAVAN
Kamal Giri
The sculpture gallary of the Bharat Kala Bhavan, Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi), possesses some Jaina sculptures in stone and metal. The present paper focuses on the Jaina sculptures in stone. These figures cover a long span of time and they mainly hail from sites in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Among them are a few Kuşāņa Jina heads;2 but the figures of the Jinas and Yakşīs from Gupta to the medieval times make the rest of the bulk. Of the 27 Jina images, four represent Jina caumukhi (Pratimā-sarvatobhadrikā) and the remaining single Jina figures. Of the traditional 24, at least eight Jinas are represented in the collection : they are Rşabha (1st), Ajita (2nd), S Supārśva (7th), Candraprabha (8th), śānti (16th), Ariştanemi (22nd), Pārśva (23rd) and Vardhamana Mahāvira (24th).
There are 11 separate figures of Jina Rşabha in the collection; Rşabha being the premier Jina, was held in the highest veneration in all the sects of the Jainas.
Rşabha's earliest image (Acc. No. 23275 : 71 x 54 cms.) (not illustrated) is dateable to c. eighth-ninth century A. D. and is fashioned in black stone. It hails from South India. Rşabhanātha seated cross-legged is not accompanied by any of the prātihāryas (splendour phenomena). The body of the Jina is slim and in fine proportions. Four other Rşabha figures are dateable to c. 10th-11th century A. D. The provenance of these figures, excepting for the one, is unknown; but the images appear to have come somewhere form U. P. or M. P. on the basis of iconographical features and style. One of these figures, beautifully modelled (Acc. No. 274 : 9 x 18 cms) and carved in buff sandstone, is sky-clad; it stands on a carpet in kāyotsarga-mudrā. The figure above the waist is badly mutilated. The central mūlanāyaka figure is flanked by two male fly-whisk bearers. Bull-cognizance is carved on the pedestal. On the left of the bull, is a figure of four-armed Cakreśvari in lalitasana; she holds discs in two upper hands wbile the lower hands show the abhaya-mudra and some indistinct object. To the right of Cakreśvari aypears a kneeling figure of ārādhaka or worshipper with hands in namaskāra-mudrā. The Gomukha Yakşa, however, is here depicted as playing a truant. (Not illustrated)
One other figure of Rşabha in buff sandstone (Acc. No. 176: 53 x 46 cms.) (not illustrated) was procured from Rājaghāț, Vārānasi. Here the Jina is seated in dhyāna-mudrā on a cushion placed over a carpet bearing the figure of bull cognizance. The carpet is spread over the throne supported by two lions with intervening
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