Mahavira Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth Part 1

Author(s): Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Mumbai
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 809

330 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME
Dikpāla-Brahmā and Ananta-never depicted in a temple are, it is interesting to note, found here on wall pilasters in the Mukhamandapa that stand in the immediate vicinity of the karņas of the Gūdha. maņdapa. In the salilāntaras stand vyālas on gajamunda brackets. Above each vyála is seen a gandharva figure. (Figs. 10 & 11)
At the balconies, in lieu of janghā, is found a different set of mouldings: this commences from a rājasenaka showing figures in panels followed by vedikā showing foliate scrolls and female attendant figures, topped by a double course of asanapattaka and next the kaksāsana (seatback) most beautifully carved with figural motifs and vegetal creepers. Above this comes the lattice thrown in between simple dwarf pillars. The superstructure of the Mülaprāsāda as well as of the Gūdhamandapa is not original. The varandikā below the superstructures, though simple, seems old.
The Mukhamandapa (Fig. 12) shares the basement upto the top of the pitha but above it is placed a broad and deep rājasenaka as high as the kumbha of the vedībandha of the Güdhamandapa. The level of the floor of the Mukhamandapa is thus lower than that of the Gūdhamandapa. The rājasenaka here shows figures of Vidyādevis such as Vairoty, and gandharvas and a large kumbha-puruşa on the north and the south side now replaced by a modern copy. The six free standing and four engaged pillars (barring those of recent extensions) are original and of Bhadraka class such as seen at Trinetreśvara temple near Than. The staircase of this mukhacatuṣki bears a large panel on either side of the steps harbouring Vidyādevis, one of whom is Vajrānkuśā.52
The ceilings of the Mukhamandapa are very important for the varieties they reveal. That of the mukhacatuṣki is a lenticular Nabhicchanda type (Fig. 14): it is of the kind known at a similar location in such earlier temples as Brahmăņasvāmi temple at Varman, Kāmeśvara temple at Auwa, and Mälādevī temple at Gyaraspur, the last one in Central India. The ceiling immediately above the door of the Gūdhamaņdapa is of the samatala kind showing figural work in boxed frame and a central medallion with divinities (Fig. 13). Variants of this type are known from Siva temple at Kotai and a few other places.53
52 As against the attributes prescribed in the texts, Gomukha Yakşa
shows vara, padma, and kalasa. Brahmaśānti Yaksa holds varada
kşa, padma, chatra, and kalasa. 53 NANAVATI, J. M., and DHAKY, M. A., The Ceilings in the Temples of
Gujarat, Bulletin of the Museum and Picture Gallery, Baroda', Vols. XVI-XVII, Fig. 7, p. 45.