Some Aspects of Jainism in Eastern India

Author(s): Pranabananda Jash
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

Page 109

Jainism in Eastern India
(cognizance) usually placed below the image.
One of the earliest Jaina figures hailing from Surohar in the district of Dinajpur, now preserved in the Varendra Research Society Museum, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, represents Rşabhanātha,63 the first of the twenty-four tīrıhankaras of the Jainas. Seated crosslegged at the centre of the stela on a simhāsana with hands resting on the soles of the feet, he is characterised by his lāñchana, the bull, placed at the lower compartment of the pedestal. Completely nude, he wears the urnā, uşnişu, and the wheel marks, which are the well known Mahāpuruṣa lakşaņas, on his palm and soles of the feet. He is flanked by two male figures with fly-whisks on either side and gandharva pairs on either side of the round prabhāmaņdala which rests under the canopy of a chatra. The importance of this image is enhanced by the fact that it represents the figures of twenty-three other tirth inkuras, seated in diyāna pose within niches of miniature temples arranged in relief on the two sides and top of the main figure. Each tirthankara is marked by his distinctive lañchana shown on the pedestals. - Another Rşabhanātha image is found from Barabhum in the Midnapur district, and is now preserved in the Indian Museum. In this sculpture the miniature figures of the twenty-four Jinas are arranged in four rows of three each on either side of the main image, all standing in kāyotsarga
pose.65
A similar type of mutilated Jaina image which may be assigned to a date not later than the eleventh century AD has been found in a ruined sand stone temple standing at present for the worship of Siva. The linga within the temple is of new installation. Originally it was a Jaina temple, dedicated to Rşabhanātha, whose image (ht. 3'2''; br. 1'6") now lies by the side of the linga. Debala Mitra describes it as such:
“The central figure, remarkable for its beautiful facial expression and jațā mukuta, stands against a throne in the usual karotsarga pose on a double-petalled lotus, below which is his characteristic lúñchana, buil, between two devotees. On either side of his legs is a standing attendant, wearing ornaments and loin-cloth. Over his head is a canopy of succession of gradually diminishing chatras, flanked by a flying couple holding garlands. Over the chatra are two pairs of hands playing on musical instruments. The back-slab is relieved with miniature figures of twenty-four tirthankaras, arranged in twelve rows of two each. Like the main