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Sumati-Jñāna P. C. Dasgupta, in his "Purulia Jear Purākirti” refers to a colossal stone image of Ambikā (height 5 feet). Mounted on a lion, the deity having a well proportioned and supple body, represents a splendid specimen of Jaina sculpture. Dancing figures and the figures of musicians are carved on the stele. Stylistically, the piece of sculpture may be dated to c. 12th century AD. The findspot of the figure is Lālpur (P. S. Raghunāthpur), near Telkupī.21
From the description of census of West Bengal (1961), we are informed of a mutilated stone image of Ambikā from the village Suisā (P. S. Bāgmundi) in the Purulia district. The image probably belonged to a lost Jaina temple.22
Several medieval reliefs in the collection of the Varendra Research Society Museum, Rājshahi (now in Bangladesh) show a couple seated underneath the spreading branches of a tree with children in their laps. Miniature figures in Yogāsana are placed above the branches of the tree. These sculptures may be taken as the eastern mode of representation of Gomedha and Ambikā. These are probably the adaptations of Panchikā (Kubera) and Hāriti, associated with Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Ambikā, indeed, enjoyed an exalted position in Jaina worship. According to Rupa-mandana of Sutradharamandana (c. mid. 15th century AD), Ambikā occupied a specially venerated position. This is evident from literary notices and archaeological sources, particularly the stone and metal images of the deity, discovered from the different sites of Bengal.
REFERENCES 1. Päl, Pratapāditya, Jain Art from India, London, 1996, p. 33. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid, p. 34. 4. Ibid. 5. Bhattacharya. N. N., Tantrăbhidhāna, New Delhi, 2002, p. 9. 6. Pal, cited above, p. 35. 7. Tiwari, M. N. P., Ambikā in Jaina Art and Literature, New Delhi, 1989, p. 18. 8. Ibid. 9. Majumdar, A. K., Bănkurā Jetār Purākirti (in Bengali), Calcutta, 1971, pp. 30-36; Dasgupta, P. C., Purulia Jetār Purākirti (in Bengali), Calcutta, 2006, pp. 75, 100, 102; Mitra, Debala, Some Jaina Antiquities from Bānkurā, W. B., Journal of Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIV, No. 2, 1985, pp. 131-134. 10. Pashchim Banga, Bankurā Jetā Samkhyā (in Bengali), Culcutta, B. S. 1409, p. 44. 11. Parichiti O Barnanāmülak Tālikā, Āchāriya Yogeshchandra Purākirti Bhaban, Vishnupur, 1390 (B. S.), p.
42.
12. Paśhimbanga, cited above. 13. Śraman (in Bengali), Baiśākh, B. S. 1403, No. 1, pp. 17-18. 14. Ibid, p. 13. 15. Ibid. 16. Tiwari, cited above, p. 101. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid. p. 103. 19. Ibid. 20. Ibid. 21. Dasgupta, cited above. 22. Ibid.
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