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Vol. III, 1997-2002
Jaina Mahāvidyās in Osiän
75
a fruit in right and left hands (Plate 8). However, in the devakulikā examples the goddess is both two and four-armed and always rides an iguana. The two-armed goddess bears long-stalked lotuses in both hands, whereas the four-armed goddess, carved on the devakulikā No. 3, carries a lotus, a manuscript and a fruit in three surviving hands. The figures correspond to the Svetāmbara texts only in respect of the vāhana--iguana--and lotus. The figures on the devakulikās, however, follow the earlier Svetāmbara tradition enjoined by the Caturviņsatikā and the Nirvanakalikā, which depict the goddess with iguana and bearing the varada-mudrā, a musala (or danda), a lotus and a rosary46. One of the figures on the main temple, however, appears to have followed the Mantrādhirajakalpa, wherein she is described as riding on a bull"? The association of bull with Gauri is reminiscent of Brahminical Siva. This is further reinforced by the instance carved in the rangamandpa ceiling at Vimala vasahī, where the four-armed Gauri is provided with bull and the varadāksa, lotus (twice) and a fruit as attributes 48 The tenth Mahāvidyā Gāndhārī, represented here by four figures49, invariably sits on a lotus and possesses two hands. The goddess, in conformity with the Svetāmbara tradition, holds a vajra and a musala respectively in the right and left hands50, which, however, in one examplesi, are juxtaposed. The later works visualise Gāndhārī as fourarmed and carrying the varada and the abhaya-mudra in addition to the usual vajra and musalas, Vairotyā, the 13th Mahāvidyā, appears to have enjoyed a favoured position in Jainism, who also is conceived as the yakși of Vimalanātha. The goddess, always shown fourarmed, is represented by eight examples at the site, of which two are carved on the mukhamandapa and the gūdhamandapa of the main temple, whereas the remaining ones are on the devakulikāss. She invariably rides a snakes4. The figure on the mukhamandapa of the main temple bears a sword, two snakes (in two hands) and a shield (Plate 8), while the figure on the gūdhamandapa shows a shield and a snake in the upper and lower left arms, with lower right resting on thighs. The devakulikā figures are identical with the figures on the main temple 56. However, in one solitary instance, carved on the doorway of the devakulikā No.1, the goddess holds snake in all her four arms, which is not supported by any of the available dhyānas. It appears that the iconographic form of the goddess was standardised at the site in c. eighth century A. D., which corresponds with the available dhyānas57 It is interesting to find that Vairotyā, in the group of the 16 Mahāvidyās at the Sāntinātha temple, Kumbhāriā, also holds the same set of attributes which are noticed in case of the figures of the gūdhamandapa of main temple. The example from the rangamandapa ceiling of the Vimala vasahī also shows similar attributes excepting for the fruit substituting a snake. The 14th Mahāvidya Acchuptā, in 11 examples, one on the north facade of the gūdhamandapa and the remaining on the devakulikāsse, happens to be one of the most favoured Mahāvidyās at the site. Her iconographic form, fully corresponding with the Svetāmbara tradition 59, was standardised at the site in the eighth century A. D., as is
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