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JAINA TIRTHAS IN INDIA
of years ago, I was fortunate to find it standing in the same condition. Though most of it is defaced, it testifies to the wonderful workmanship of the artisans. I hope the trustees of the Ajārā-Pārsvanātha shrine will take early steps to preserve this ancient structure.
Figure 13 :-An unidentified goddess. This image lies covered with thorny bushes near the entrance gate of the Ajārā-Pārsvanātha temple. It holds a bell in one hand and a staff in another. The remaining hands and the weapons held in them are lost and it has made identification rather uncertain. Still from its drapery, the image can be assigned to about the 10th to the 12th Cen. A. D. Besides these two sculptures (Figures 12 & 13) many loose fragments of sculptures are lying strewn all round the village of Ajārā.
Plate 7 Figure 14:-ANTARIKSHA-PARSVANATHA from the cellar of a Jaina shrine at Sripura near Akola. According to an old Jaina tradition which is current even to this day the image was got fashioned by king Rāvana and one full chapter called Sri-Antariksha-Parsvanathakalpa is devoted to its description in the work called Vividhatirthakalpa of Sri Jinaprabhasuri (14th Cen. A. D.). The image is seated in the Ardhapadmasana pose and the serpentine hood behind it is of a different type from those of the other ancient Pārsvanātha images. It appears that the sculptor chiseiled it with great haste. Members of both the Jaina sects-the Svetāmbaras and the Digambaras-worship it with devotion.
Figure 15:-SRI MANIKYASVAMI from the Jaina temple at Kulpākaji a village in the Hyderabad State (Deccan). It is in the Ardhapadmasana pose and according to Jaina tradition the image was got fashioned by Emperor Bharata, the elder brother of the fir: t Tirthankara Rishabhadeva. A detailed description of this image also is given in the chapter entitled Kollapaka-Manikyadeva-tortha-kalba in the Vividhatirthakalpa which is mentioned above. The pedestal of the image bears an inscription dated V. S. 1767 and refers to the repairs done by the Sangha from Bhavnagar. Both the images are very old and besmeared.
Plate 8 Figure 16:-Image of PARSVANATHA excavated at Kankāli-tila, Mathurā, and now preserved in the Provincial Museum at Lucknow. The serpant hood over the head of this image has been very dexter
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