Jaina Antiquities at Bhubaneswar (Khordha)

Jaina images in Odisha State Museum.

A good number of Jaina images have been collected by Odisha State Museum and few of them are displayed in the gallery. The images brought from the places of Khordha district are only discussed here.

Two Jaina images are collected from Brahmesvarapatna area of Bhubaneswar. One is an image of Risabhanatha and the other an image of Ambika. The image of Risabhanatha is now preserved in Odisha State Museum while the Ambika image is shifted to Dhenkanal Branch Museum^[1].

Risabhanatha:

The Tirthankara Risabhanatha (Pl.LXXIIIA) is carved standing in kayotsarga posture over a lotus pedestal. His lanchana bull is well represented at the center below the pedestal and flanked by kneeling devotees with folded hands and crouching lions on either corner. He has matted locks and few strand of which falling on the shoulders are also noticed. Besides, other characteristic features like astagrahas, kevala tree, trilinear umbrella, vidyadharas, cymbals and drums played with invisible hands of gandharvas etc are also envisaged in their respective positions.

Ambika:

The upper part of the image is fully disfigured but the remaining portion (60x35cm) shows that it is an image of Ambika holding a baby in her left lap and a mango twig in the right hand. Her second son is also depicted near her right hand. The tree is carved on the left side of the Sasanadevi instead at the center behind her and her lanchana lion is also noticed below the tree.

Parsvanatha:

An image of Parsvanatha image (Pl.LXXXIB) is collected from the premises of the Dadhivamana temple of Sisupalgarh village in the year 1975 and preserved in the Odisha State Museum^[2]. The Tirthankara is carved standing in kayotsarga posture over a full blown lotus pedestal. He is flanked by bejeweled chauri bearers at the bottom and garland bearers, cymbals and drums played with invisible hands at the top. A seven hooded snake canopy is depicted over his head while the coils of the snake shown behind his body. A torana crowned with a foliated arch on either end is also noticed at the back side of the Tirthankara in low relief. The place below the lotus pedestal of the Tirthankara is delicately carved with a wheel flanked by lions at the center and a four armed partially defaced Sasanadevi Padmavati along with knelling devotees on the left. The right side of the panel is carved with a nagi devotee in anjalimudra and two other kneeling devotees. From the artistic point of view the image has been assigned to circa 9^th century CE^[3].

Mahavira (?):

This is one of the best carved Jaina Tirthankaras images (1.14x 0.61x0.25m) but partially defaced and displayed in Odisha State Museum^[4]. The finds spot of the image is unknown. He is carved seated in dhyanamudra over a double petalled lotus pedestal. The lanchana of the Tirthankara is depicted in between the lotus petal seems to be a deer (?). So the image is presumed to an image of Santinatha instead of Mahavira. Previous scholars mistakenly identified it as Mahavira due to the depiction of lion below the pedestal. In fact, the lion is in crouching position and in one corner which is a usual feature found in all the images as throne bearer. The chauri bearers are found on either side of the Tirthankara. A beautiful carved torana with leaf pattern, diamond and circular shape design is carved depicted behind the head of the Tirthankara. The two end of the torana is relieved with goose is a rare occurrence in Odishan Jaina art. The torana is surmounted by trilinear chhatravali and kevala tree and flanked by champaka flower, lotus, gandharvas with garland, cymbals and drums played with human figures are also represented. The cymbals and drums played with gandharvas in human form is only depicted in one of the Parsvanatha image of Pratapanagari.

There are two more images viz., Risabhanatha and Mahavira along with a fragmentary stone piece depicting chauri bearers, four grahas, flying garland bearer and divyadhuni preserved in the Odisha State Museum but their finds spot is not known.

Mukteswara Temple, Bhubaneswar

Six number of diminutive size figures are carved in the temple art of Mukteswara appear to be Jaina Tirthankara images. They are carved standing nude in kayotsarga posture^[5] and mostly represented in foliated the chaitya arches at the khura portion of the temple and projected capping portion of the short heighted boundary wall. The appearance of Jaina and Buddhist images along with Brahmanical images indicates that the builder of the temple was a man of elective views^[6].

Brahmesvara Temple, Bhubaneswar

Similar type of Mukteswara temple, diminutive Tirthankara images (Pls.LXXIIIC-LXXIVD) are also noticed in the main temple as well as in the sub-shrines of Brahmesvara temple along with Buddhist, Brahmanical and secular figures. They are generally carved in khura and basanta projection of pabhaga of the temples and a total number of 17 images are traced during the field work.

The details are as follows-

Vimana of the main Temple:

a) Northern wall, raha paga, khura projection -01 image
b) Western wall, raha paga, khura projection -01 image
c) Western wall, kanika paga, khura projection -01 image
d) Southern wall, raha paga, khura projection -01 image

South-western Sub-Shrine:

a) Western wall, anuratha paga (towards north), khura and basanta projection -02 images
b) Southern wall, kanika paga (towards north) -01 image

South-eastern Sub-Shrine:

a) Eastern wall, kanika paga (towards north), kani projection -01 image
b) Northern wall, raha paga, khura projection -02 images
c) Southern wall, anuratha paga, khura projection -01 image

North-eastern Sub-Shrine:

a) Northern wall, anuratha paga, basanta projection -01 image

North-western Sub-Shrine:

a) Northern wall, raha paga, khura projection -01 image
b) Northern wall, talagarbhika, basanta projection -01 image
c) Western wall, raha paga, patta projection -01 image
d) Western wall, anuratha paga, patta projection -01 image
e) Southern wall, anuratha paga, khura projection -01 image

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

R.P. Mohapatra, op.cit., 1984, p.71.

[2]:

Ibid., pp.75-76.

[3]:

J. Ratha, op.cit., p.68.

[4]:

R.P. Mohapatra, op.cit., 1984, p.77.

[5]:

K.C. Panigrahi, op.cit., 1981, p.93.

[6]:

V. Dehejia, op.cit., p.145.