Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

Page 398

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE ICONOGRAPHY ...
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known to me, but they certainly suffered during the notorious activities of art-robbers in 1959, so that a complete survey is no longer possible. Moreover, some of the best pieces have been published by now: a seated Rşabha (Deogarh Figs. 213, 213A, 213B) the seated Cakreśvarī (Deogarh Fig. 227), the Jina-Rși-image, the central part of the inner door-frame. Thus Golakot was, is, and will remain a forgotten site, only known to or remembered by the members of the Jaina communities in the nearby settlements of Khaniadhana, Gudar and Pachrai. Archaeological reports supply but scanty information on the place.
Readers of the Deogarh monograph will remember that the necessity of adequate preservation measurements and of adequate surveys was underlined on more than one occasion. We mentioned above that the "documentation" in Section VI was far from complete. Here we can only add a few general remarks. Scattered Jaina images (mainly Jina-images) are found all over Madhya Desa. They could be brought to safer places. However, such modern migrations of mūrtis already involve a certain loss: the piece is separated from its original local context. Clusters of mūrtis which belong together may be separated, while pieces of different provenance are placed side by side in the museums. It would be possible to keep records of the find-spots, but only very accurate notes could permit a full reconstruction of the artistic heritage of a particular site. Small museums on the spot and adequate measures to safeguard the temples and their mūrtis are more satisfactory from the point of view of the arthistorian, but the technical difficulties are obvious. Thus the type of measurement to be taken in each case depends on the specific situation. Complete photographic surveys of movable sculptures are carried out in some European countries to discourage art-thieves; a known picce is sold with difficulty. But the problems involved in comprehensive photographic surveys are too clear to require specification.
To illustrate the situation we shall add a few descriptions from reports. No doubt the records are old, and the present situation