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Umakant P. Shah
Images of Bahubali are hardly found in Svetambara temples. They are however found in the Jaina Caves at Ellora and Aihole, in several sites in the South at Kalugumalai etc. and in Digambara shrines.
Rituals of both the sects include invocation and worship of the Parents of the Jinas. Sculptural representations of them are very rare, though relief slabs showing Mothers alone of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, each holding a child on ber lap, are known. A ceiling in one of the shrines at Kumbharia however contains representations of the 24 Parents along with labels inscribed below them. A type of sculptures, showing princely figures of a male and a female standing or sititting by the side of each other and holding a child each, with a few more playing children shown on the pedestal, deserves special consideration. Some of these sculptures are also accompanied by a yaksha and a yaksini figure on the sides of the pedestal. In such cases the main figures cannot be regarded as Yaksa and Yaksini. Every sculpture of this type has an image of a Jina on top of the tree under which the pair is sitting or standing. I have therefore tentatively suggested that these sculptures might have represented Parents of the different Jinas. Such sculptures have been mainly found from various sites in Central and Eastern India, especially sites like Khajuraho and the Devagadh fort.2
Images of Jaina monks are also found in temples of both sects. Usually they have inscriptions of pedestals giving the name of the monk represented. Figures of monks of the Digambara sect are nude while those of the S've, sect show a lower and an upper garment. Often there is figure of Sthapanacarya 2 in front of these monks who carry a book in one hand and show the vyakhyana mudra with the other. A disciple monk is sometimes shown in front of the acarya.
Ganadharas are Jaina monks, being direct disciples of Tirthankaras, and hold the highest position of respect among Jaina monks and nuns. Sculptures of Ganadharas like Pundarika and Gautama, the chief direct disciples of the first and the last Tirthankaras respectively, are sometimes installed in special cells in Jaina shrines.
Sarasvati or S'ruta-Devata - The Goddess of learning.
Two goddesses enjoyed unquestionable popularity in the past, one is Laksmi, Padma or S'ri, the goddess of wealth, beauty and abundance, the other is Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. Wealth and learning the two primary needs of humanity, valued
1. For a fuller account of Bahubali see, Shah, U. P., Bahubali, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum
no. 4, pp. 32-39, with plates. 2. For a detailed discussion with photographs, see, Shah, U, P., Parents of the Jinas, Bulletin of the
Prince of Wales Museum, no. 5, pp. 24-32 with plates, 3. For sthapanacarya, see, Shah, U. P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 113-115
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