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Identification of two Jain Bronzes from the collection of the Asian Art
Museum, San Fransisco
From the vast repository of Indian Art, now located at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco', USA, two inscribed Jain bronzes are being discussed here, with the kind courtesy of the Trustees of the Asian Art Museum. They are, (1) A large Digambara Stele of the Jaina Chovisi' dated A.D. 1492, and (2) A Svetambara guilded bronze of the Panchatirthi of Shreyansanatha, dated A.D. 1512.
It is a universal truth that art and patronage go hand in hand and the former cannot survive without the latter. It is also true that no art has grown without the support of the donors, the guilds or the communities. This applies to both, Buddhism as well as Jainism equally. Since both the bronzes being discussed here are Digambara, and from Karnathaka region, we look at the ancient tradition of Kanrataka briefly to emphasize the antiquity of these images.
By and large South India has been a great seat of Digambara Jain faith, Chandragupta Maurya had journeyed to the south towards the end of his life in the company of his guru Acharya Bhadrabahu (ca. 3rd century, B.C.) Kalakacharya of the Svetambara sect was received by the Satavahana king ruling at that time in Pratisthana (paithan) by about the 1st cent. B.C. not only this but also Acharya Kundakunda? himself from South India, the first in all the genealogies of the jainas, as attested by Tamil literary sources, had spread the faith further. The whole of South for that
Shridhar Andhare
