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Landmarks of Bahubali Images in Karnataka : 105
subsequently followed on pan-Indian basis. (iii) The most gigantic images of Bahubali were carved in Karnataka which suggest the high esteem accorded to Bahubali in the region. (iv) The most important is the earliest rendering of the Vidyadharis (female angels) on both the sides of Bahubali images in cuncurrence with the injunctions of the Digambara Jaina texts.
The earliest visual representations of Bahubali are known from Digambara Jaina caves at Aihole and Bādāmī (c. A.D. 600) in Bijapur district of Karnataka. These figures, identical in details, show Bahubali as standing sky-clad in the kayotsarga-mudrā on simple pedestals with hair combed back in jaṭā fashion with lateral strands hanging over the shoulders. It may be mentioned here, in passing, that almost all the later examples, mainly from south India, the lateral strands are shown with Bahubali which remind us of his association with Rṣabhanatha on the one hand and long passage of time of his tapas on the other. The entwining creepers, beautifully spread over his legs and hands and cobras, close to his feet, also suggest the prolonged and deep meditation of Bahubali. The depression on his abdomen, half-shut eyes and the erect posture also indicate the deep meditation, Bahubali in both the instances is joined by the figures of the two Vidyāharis, wearing decorated mukutas and other ornaments and holding the ends of the entwining creepers.
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All the previous scholars including U.P. Shah and C. Sivaramamurti, have identified these flanking female figures with the figures of sädhvis Brahmi and Sundari, the two sisters of Bahubali, who, according to the Svetambara texts, at the instance of Rṣabhanatha came to Bahubali to persuade him to shake off the remnants of pride. Bahubali standing in kayotsarga posture in trance could attain omniscience only after that." But the Digambara works, on the contrary, envisage the presence of the two Vidyadharis, who according to the Harivamsapuraṇa and the Adipuraṇa12 came down to earth to remove the entwining creepers from the body of Bahubali engrossed in tapas. These figures in any case could not be the figures of Jaina sadhvis, Brahmi and Sundari, in Digambara Jaina context, since these figures are endowed with decorated mukutas and other ornaments. The
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