Jinamanjari 2000 04 No 21

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 72

The four-petaled flower sometimes shown on foot-prints stands for the padmamandala symbolizing the pañca-paramesṭhis.
* The tiered relief compositions on nisidhis follow a synoptic narrative scheme of the votary's ascent to the higher plane from the lower. The lower panel in each case refers to the process of initiation into and the practice of the vow. The guidance of saint-teacher was inevitable for the aspirant to enter into the vow of sallekhana. Thus his place in narrative scheme is defined. He often has one hand in the gesture of exposition, holding the aradhana text in the other. The exaggerated size of the thavanekōl is noteworthy for it implies emphasis. It is the very embodiment of the firmness of the Jinasasana (bhadramastu jinaśāsanāya). The Jina in whose presence the votary is shown in the upper panel symbolizes the samavasaraṇa mood. He delivers his silent sermon on Jinasasana in the Assembly Hall created by the gods. Hence the artist through this delineation seems to imply that the votary is enjoying the bliss of the sermon of the Jina in samavasarana in the heavenly abode. The recurrence of statements like svargāgramanēridar, indralökakke-sandar etc in nisidhi records also support the above interpretation. In three-tier depiction, the central panel shows the votary being carried in a vimāna by apsaras, thereby implying that he or she is ascending to the heavens to reach the samavasaraṇa plane having successfully completed the sallēkhanā rite. The sun and the moon apparently symbolize the state achieved by the votary which is one of eternity.
In the case of certain nisidhi columns treated with elaborate multi-tiered details (eg. Prabhācandra Siddhātadēva nisidhi at Śravaṇabeļgoļa) there is scope to believe that the artist intended to depict Nandiśvaradvipa, the eighth continent which resembles heaven and which is a rejoicing land where the gods are intent on worshipping the Jinas in the fifty-two śāśvata-caityalayas. ♣
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. A. Gosh, ed., Jaina Art and Architecture, Bharatiya Jnanpith, Delhi, 1974.
2. K.G. Bhatsoori, Antiquities in the Government Museum, Shimoga - A Study, Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Mysore, 1995.
3. B.R. Gopal, ed., Epigraphia Carnatica, Vol.II, Mysore University 1973.
4. Nagarajiah Hampa, Koppala Säsangalu, Ratnatraya Publication, Mysore 1998; Jaina Corpus of Koppala Inscriptions X-Rayed, Ankita Publication, Bangalore 1999; The Later Gangas: Mandali Thousand, Ankita Publication, Bangalore 1999.
5. Parataditya Pal, The Peaceful Liberators: Jaina Art From India (Thames and Hudson Inc., New York 1994.
6. S. Settar, Inviting Death, Karnataka University, Dharwar, 1986; Pursuing death, Karnataka University, Dharwar 1990.