________________
Doris Chatham
Nirgrantha
bulkiness of their riders. Sarvanubhuti and Ambika rest their folded legs on the animal heads.
82
In Cave 34 (J-26), southwest of the Jagannatha Sabha complex, the flanking figures of Ambika and Sarvānubhuti (Plates 34 and 35) have the same composition-animal heads on the outside and facing the observer, folded legs. above the animal heads-as those just described in Cave J-14. Since they are separated from the shrine entrance by pilasters, however, and are surmounted by nearly ball-shaped trees, and, what is more, possess a somewhat stiffened version of the slimmer figure-type, they remind us most of the pair at the end of the verandah in the lower cave of Jagannatha Sabha, which are arranged in an identical composition. Thus we come to a solution that serves as well for either the facing or the flanking position.
So far, in all our examples, it is Ambika's left leg (that on our right as we face her) that is folded, whether she is in a facing or flanking position and whether the lion's head is on the right or left. At the shrine door in the main hall of the Jagannatha Sabha cave (Plate 36), however, we find her with her right leg folded" Sarvanubhuti, on the left (Plate 37) is in a symmetrical pose, or mirror-image, in respect to the folded leg and animal-head, but he, too, is somewhat unusual. His right leg (on our left), rather than extending to rest the foot on a pedestal like Ambika's, is pulled up vertically so that the foot rests on the elephant's back. This pose is similar to that of the ganas or of Padmanidhi images and is also shared by the anomalous Sarvanubhuti in Cave-19A. Perhaps it is not necessary, or possible, to find an explanation for these variations, but it may be noted that these figures, certainly assured and sophisticated in their rendering, not suggestive of clumsy or tentative experimentation, are not, strictly speaking, flanking the shrine entrance. That is, they are placed in set-back sections of wall on either side of standing Jina images, which do flank the entrance. Ambika and Sarvānubhuti are not in niches but, with their trees and surrounding attendants, occupy space in the room. Ambika, particularly, is part of a freely-flowing spatial composition, which merges with that of the Tirthankara. It may, after all, have been the decision of an inventive artist to change the pose so that the thrust of the folded leg emphasizes this relationship.
It remains to note three examples in which the principle of a symmetrical composition for flanking a shrine entrance has been ignored. All three are minor caves in the Indra Sabha complex and may represent early experiments or later imitations of the works already considered. In the small cave outside of the screen wall, on the East (J-6, Plates. 38,39), the animal heads are on the inside, toward the shrine entrance and are therefore symmetrically arranged, although the elephant is in profile and the lion turns to face the observer. The folded legs of Sarvanubhuti and Ambika, however, are both on the right side. The style, and even the attitude of the animals, most closely resemble that of the facing figures in the cave on the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
