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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
13
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
SHRUTSAGAR
tion of yakṣa-yakṣi and attendant figures.
The figures of Pārśvanātha, Bahubalī and also Kubera and Ambika are graceful and show rhythamic composition of body which are beautiful and give an expression of weightlessness, despite the fact that they are rock-cut sculptures. The female figures are comparatively better in aesthetic appeal. The figures of Ambika and Padmavatī Yakṣīs and Vidyadharīs (with Bahubali) are highly ornate and beautiful with slender body revealing physical beauty and grace.
April-2016
With the extant paintings of a classical nature Ellorā form an important group in the artistic heritage of Jainism. The charming paintings in the ceilings of Indra-sabhā (cave 32) are remarkable. They represent early examples of Jaina wall paintings drawing figures of Jina, Bahubali and Indra. These paintings illustrate Jain texts and patterns including floral, animal and bird designs. The painting of Bahubali with entwining creepers is interesting for comparison with sculptural examples. Nowhere the theme of Bahubalī, standing motionless in kayotsarga in deep meditation with ant-hills and peeping reptiles, growing on his legs, and vines entwining his body and beautiful Vidyadharī figures flanking him is better portrayed in terms of aesthetic expression. However, among these painting there is one that arrests attention: the Dikpāla group showing Yama with his consort on a buffalo and preceded and followed by members of his retinue. The treatment of clouds and the wide open eyes of the figures are specially noteworthy. Another beautiful painting represents Indra (with thunderbolt) as supreme dancer, which is in concurrence with the Vaidik tradition wherein Indra is the supreme dancer, not Śiva. Interestingly it was subsequently endorsed in Jaina texts wherein Indra (not Śiva) is visualized as supreme dancer. The painting has all dynamics of Indian dance and aesthetics. The sculptural examples of dancing Indra are also found at Delvādā and Kumbhāriyā.
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The figures of Pārsvanatha and Bahubali at Ellora distinctly reveal impact of earlier such figures carved in Bādami (cave IV) and Aihole Jaina caves of c. 600 CE in Karnataka. They are carved in two separate mandapas facing each other. The
