Stone Images (2): Jaina Sculptures

The Jaina images which are found from Sirpur reveal the fact that Jainism also thrived in ancient Sripura. The stone images of Parsvanatha, Mahavir Jaina, Ambika and Tirthankara Caubisi (24-Tirthankara) are found from Sirpur.

A black granite image of Parsvanatha has been preserved in the M.G.M. museum, Raipur. This image of Parsvanatha, under the umbrella of a sevenhood snake, is in Dayanamudra and Padmasana posture. Both the palms of Parsvanatha are on his left. The elongated ears, curly hair and hair-do of this image are very charming.

A red-sand-stone image of Mahavir Jaina is being preserved in the archaeological museum of Sirpur village. Design of this image is generally the same as that of the above mentioned image except the ears and the neck. The former image contains long ears which are being attached to the shoulders and some elevated circles around the neck, but the later contains comparatively small ears not attached to the shoulders and the neck portion is without any such elevated circle. The image is in Dyanamudra with a high degree of peace radiating from the face.

The life-size red-sand-stone image of Rsabhanatha, the first Tirthankara with the Yaksini Ambika has been preserved in the Sirpur museum. The beautiful semi-nude Yaksini standing under the mango tree is holding her child in open-breast-feeding posture. She is decorated with ornaments like long necklace, ear ornaments and some ornaments of hair. Her hair is beautifully done on the top of her head. She is found wearing short waist ornaments. The bare lower limbs from the thighs to the feet only contain the ‘payals’. The right hand, which is holding the left leg of the child, is broken from the armpit while the left hand is upholding the heaps of the child. This elaborately ornamented image of Jaina Yaksi is a rare and aesthetic sculpture which represents a sense of enjoyment of eternal motherhood. There are few other such stone images in the Sirpur museum.

A beautiful panel of the images of all the twenty-four Tirthankara encircling a piece of stone is being preserved in the premises of the M.G.M. museum, Raipur, which was found from Sirpur. They are elaborately sculptured on a vertical piece of red-stand-stone in six horizontal lines with four Tirthankaras on each of the line. This is one of the finest piece of Jaina art of Sripura.