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Associated Sculptures
But artistically the most interest-abiding are the lively animal figures ranged in file and noticeable on the borders of some of the Samatala ceilings in the Mahāvīra temple (Plates 70, 71). Such spirited and elegant figures rendered in high relief do not occur anywhere in western Indian Jaina art, be they concerning a narrative-depiction or other related theme in the Delvādā ceilings.
Annotations
1. The convention of including the three-dimensioned representations of Nandīśvaradvīpa,
Sammetaśikhara, and Kalyānatraya apparently came in vogue in the 13th century, and as the evidence shows, specifically in the context of the buildings of Vastupāla and Tejapāla. These are, without exception, of the Svetāmbara affiliation, although the representation of the Aştāpada was plausibly in vogue in the Boţika/Ksapanaka sect in central India. The representation of 'Sahasrakūta' in the context of the Svetāmbara tradition is not known before mid 15th century. It was adopted there from the Kşapaņaka tradition of central India where it figures from at least the tenth century both in literature and in fair abundance in concrete representations in the tenth and the 11th
century. 2. The tradition of 'patta' worship in Jainism is ancient. The evidence is available from at
least the Saka period (c. 1st-2nd cent. A.D.) in Mathurā where they occur on the āyāgapattas, where, however, the theme of representation was different, namely the 'mangalas,' auspicious symbols. There is apparently a long hiatus between that age and the medieval period when 'patta' worship reappear but with altogether different themes. Perhaps, in the intervening period, the painted pattas of silk may have served the purpose. The 'Caturvimsati-Jina-patta' occur in two ways: as an image proper, in stone or metal, with a central larger Jina, seated or standing, with a surround of the 23 Jinas: And, as a carved slab bearing tiny figures of the 24 Jinas in panels, arranged in superimposed rows. It is this second type which is relevant here. It is purely of Svetāmbara origin, available elsewhere from several Jaina sites from c. late tenth century onwards. The Sammetaśikhara-pattas are rarely met with, and that too not before the late 12th century. These are unknown in the Boţika/Kșapanaka as well as the Digambara sect. These pattas are peculiar to the Svetāmbara sect and are available in plenty; but none is earlier than the middle of the 15th century and mostly from Rajasthan from the Jaina temples in Ranakpur, Jaisalmer etc. The other types of pattas such as the Nandīśvara, Astāpada, Vis-viharamāna-Jinas (who are the 20 Jinas, preaching in the legendary Mahāvideha continent of the Jambūdvīpa), Kalyānatraya, and Aśvāvabodha with Samalikā-vihāra-caritra are confined to the Svetāmbara sect and there, too, their examples are largely unknown before the 13th century. The earliest examples of the Nandīśvara patta are known from the 12th century. The Astāpada pattas are rather rare to meet with, their three-dimensional representations had begun from at least the 12th century. The 'Kalyāṇatraya' is a concrete representation of a concept of the three kalyānakas of Jina Aristanemi-his Renunciation, attainment of Enlightenment and finally the Salvation—that had
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