The Earliest Jain Sculptures in Kāthiāwār

Author(s): H. D. Sankalia
Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 3 (Jul., 1938),
pp. 426-430
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25201741 .
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426 THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULPTURES IN KATHIAWAR

this important line of communication leading from the vicinity

of Mosul to Nisibin, the ancient Roman stronghold of Nisibis,
and now followed by a railway under construction, was

guarded by a succession of Roman fortified stations. Here,

too, our survey linked up closely with the system of Limes
roads which Pere Poidebard had determined on the other
side of the present Syro-Iraq frontier.
The increasing heat of May made me feel glad when my
task on this ground was concluded. Its continuation by the
Euphrates is an aim which I eagerly hope to sec realized in
the Autumn, if Fate is kind.
399. Aurel Stein.

THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULPTURES IN KATHIAWAR

(PLATES III-IV)
While exploring Kathiawar for its antiquarian remains

Burgess visited Dhank.1 There, in a ravine, west of

the hill near the modern town, he found a few sculptures
cut out in low relief in cells and also on the face of the cal
careous rock. He described these in his Report,2 but published
no photographs or drawings. Not satisfied with his description
I decided to visit the place while on a similar tour as his.3
On examining the sculptures I found that they were not
Buddhist, as Burgess thought them to be,4 but Jain. More
over, they seem to be the earliest specimens of this or of any
other school of sculpture found in Kathiawar.
The discussion may begin with the sculptures in cells
1A small under a darbdr, 30 miles W.N.W. from Junagarh,
sub-state,
in Gondal State. Formerly tho place was known as Tilatila Pattan. Traces
of its ancient besides tho caves (to bo described presently) aro
greatness
nono as such. But oven now, whenever tho place is dug up for laying the
foundation of a building, etc., images of tho Jain and Hindu pantheons and
remains of old houses aro found.
a of Kachh and Kathiawad," vol. ii, p. 150.
"Antiquities ASWI.,
3 Here I tako tho opportunity to thank Mr. Sambhuprasad Desai who
kindly accompanied mo all tho way from Junagarh ; also Mr. Gordhandas
Malaviya and tho lato Darbar of Dhank for their hospitality.
4
Burgess, op. cit., p. 150.
 THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULPTURES IN KATHIAWAR 427

carved at the lower end of the hill. Here the first cave 1 has
a small
opening, about 4 feet high. Inside the cell, 7 ft. 9 in.
by 8 ft. 4 in., there are three niches, one facing the opening
and one on either side of it. Each side-niche has a nude (?)2
figure seated in padmdsana (cross-legged) posture, its body
erect and motionless. The right hand is placed over the left
in the lap, with palm upwards. Over the head is a triple
umbrella, shown by three strokes ; on each side is a cdmara
bearcr, and small vidyddharas arc above. The figure in the
central niche is similarly seated on a simhdsana, with a
cawara-bearer on each side. Burgess identified these
sculptures
as figures of Buddha. But they seem to be of Jain Tirthan
karas, because, firstly, they arc nude ; secondly, their mudrd,
the gesture of the hands, is typical of a Jain Tlrthankara;
lastly they arc
identical with the figures on the adjoining
hill, which, as will be shown below, arc undoubtedly those of
Jain Tirthankaras. These figures, therefore, probably repre
sent Adinatha as there are two lions; the
(Rsabhadcva),
central symbol?the bull?is perhaps missing.3
Unfortunately,
the heads of the figures are so weathered as to give no indica
tion about the manner of wearing the hair, which would have
made the comparison with Mathura sculptures easier and
would have been a fair index of the age of the figures.4

Higher up the ravine, there are a number of sculptures

in very low relief on the face of the rock.5 from the
" Beginning
lower end again, first there is a woman Gwith a child on her
1 Tho
photograph is not clear enough for reproduction.
2 It is
difficult to bo definite on this point. Some fifty years ago Burgess
saw traces of etc., while at present there aro none. On tho analogy
drapery,
of the wall-figures on the hill I am inclined to think that tho
adjoining
figures were originally nude.
3 Two lions on either sido of a bull arc found on an early imago (circa
a.d. 150) of Adinatha from tho Jain stupa at Mathura. Seo Vincont Smith,
"
Tho Jain Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura," Arch. Survey of India,
vol. xx, pi. xcviii. If thoro woro only ono lion, tho iiguro should havo been
identified with that of Mahavira.
4 In or curls,
early Jain figures, tho hair is worn in rolls but later it
dovolops into a conventional stylo known as ustiisa.
5 6
Seo Pis. Ill and IV. Seo PI. III.
428 THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULPTURES IN KATHIAWAR

left knee, her right elbow resting on her right knee, and her
hand pointing up. She has heavy ear-rings, and apparently
a frontal ornament in the parting of her hair, which is wavy
and clustering". Burgess left her unidentified. She is
evidently the goddess Amba or Ambika, thc Great Mother,
who is usually sculptured with a child in Jain iconography.

Figures of her have been found in thc Jain stupa at Mathura,1

and are an invariable feature of medieval Jain sculpture
and painting.2

Adjoining Ambika is a nude

figure,3 27 inches high. It
stands in kdyotsarga (meditation) pose on a triple-cut, pillow
like stool. Thc body is held erect and the arms hang down
on either side. From behind the stool rises a
serpent in five
coils and makes a canopy of seven hoods over the head of the

standing figure. Thc figure should be identified with that of

the 23rd Jain Tirthankara, Parsvanatha. Though it is
common in Jain
sculpture, the manner of representing thc
coils of the serpent is unique.4
To the right of Parsvanatha is a small sitting figure about
8 inches high.5 Close to this is a nude figure0 in padmasana
posture ; its right hand is laid over the left in the lap with the
palm upwards. The simhdsana has a wheel and deer in thc
1 Noto that tho sitting
Smith, op. cit., pi. xcviii. postnro of tho goddess
as well asof the child and tho lion aro identical.
* A similar
figure is found at Elura, ASWI., vol. v, pi. xl, fig. 2, and at
Ankai caves. Ibid., p. 58. For paintings sco Nawab, Jain Gitrakalpadruma,
fig. 45.
3 See
fig. PI. III.
* At the folds aro similar
Bharhut, but aro two only (Cunningham,
The Stupa of Bharhut, pi. xxviii). At Amaravati (Fergusson, Tree and
"
Serpent Worship, pi. lxxvi) they aro different. At Badami (ASWI., 1874
Report, Belgain and Kaladgi," pi. xxxvi, fig. 3) tho similarity is close, but
tho representation of tho scrpont is different. At Elura (FWgusson, Cave
Temples of India, pi. lxxxvi) Piirsvanatha stands on a two-decked ornamental
stool, but the sorpoiit is very dissimilar from that at Dhank. It is interesting
to noto in this connection that a scrpont with similar folds but without tho
hood is noticed on Roman coins of Trallos (Fergusson, op. cit., p. 19, No. 2),
and on an imago from Gwalior in tho Indian Museum, South Kensington,
London. Also, cf. Takshaka, from Takshakc^vara, Indoro State, whero tho
folds aro similar. ASIWC, 1920, pi. xiii; also p. 80.
* See PI. III. See PI. IV.
JRAS. 1938. Plate III.

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[To face p. 428.

JRAS. 1938. Platk IV.
 THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULrTURES IN KATHIAWAR 429

centre and a lion at each end. Over the head is a triple um

brella shown by three strokes. On either side is an attendant
"
standing with a cdmara in; his hand. I fail to notice folds
" " "
of the drapery of the scat hanging down and tuft of hair
on thc head, as described by Burgess. Again, his identification
of the figure as Buddha is to be discarded, though the symbols
?wheel and deer?suggest it.1 The deer is a lanchana (symbol)
of the Jain Tirthankara Santinatka. An identical figure is
found in the late medieval Ankai caves.2 The Dhank

sculpture, therefore, seems to be no other than the 16th

Tirthankara of thc &vctambara Jains, or Ara (whose lancliana
is also a deer) thc 18th Tirthankara of thc Digambara Jains.
Adjoining this is a nude figure3 standing in ledyotsarga
pose. On cither side is an attendant. It has long ears and
ringlets of hair over each shoulder. It is a Jain Tirthankara ;
but it is difficult to say which in thc absence of any lanchana.
The two following arc again Jain Tlrthankaras.4 And thc
"
last two 5 are similar, but noteworthy for the dispro
''
portionately big heads of thc cdmara-bcarers and the three
lions on thc simhdsana, and thc wheel that is carved below
thc central lion. Three lions make the identification difficult
and uncertain. One lion on either side and a bull in the
centre is the symbol of Adinatha ; and a lion in the centre,
of Mahavira. Probably the figure is of the latter.6
Arc the attendants of these figures ordinary cdmara
bearers, or yaksas and yaksinis, who are associated with
Tlrthankaras both in thc Svetambara and Digambara Jain
iconography ? Indications for the second alternative arc
1 And oven tho wheel was as is attested
worshipped by tho Jains by
numerous Jain from Mathura. See Vogel,
sculptures Catalogue, Mathura,
p. 70.
2 Cave Temples
Fergusson, of India, p. 507.
3 Sco PI.
IV.
? Sco PI.
IV.
6 Theso havo not come out
in tho photograph.
6
Though Burgess finds great likeness in these figures with thoso of tho
Jinas at Biidami, Aihojc, and Ajanta, ho calls them Buddhas ! AKK.,
p. 151.
430 THE EARLIEST JAIN SCULPTURES IN KATHIAWAR

extremely few?only the high tapering head-dresses.1

Excepting these, we miss the various attributes and weapons

that are said to be found with yaksas and yaksinls.2 More
over, there do not seem to be any yaksinis among the Dhank

figures. It is possible, nevertheless, that the attendant

figures do represent yaksas, but they lack the decorative
details. These must have been introduced into the Jain
iconography at a much later period, as in the case of Hindu
and Buddhist iconography; whereas the figures, both of
Tirthankaras and attendants, belong to an earlier period.
The same reason also accounts for the absence of yalcsinis.
The rock sculptures at Dhank, therefore, are not Buddhist
but Jain. But the fact that they seem to be the work of
monks who were Digambaras, as many of the figures are
without doubt nirvastra, is surprising. For Digambara
Jainism is never found to be strong in either Gujarat or
Kathiawar. It is not so at present, nor was it so under the
Chaulukyas (circa a.d. 1000-1250). It
is probable that

Digambara Jainism was flourishing in these parts at a much

earlier period?probably under the Ksatrapas (circa
a.d. 100-300), as the existence of Jain monks and nuns
(the latter, of course, belonged to the &vetambara school)
is evidenced by inscriptions.3

Stylistically also the sculptures belong to the early fourth

century, between the Kusanas (or Ksatrapas) and the Guptas.
The posture of the Jain Tirthankaras (seated or standing)
does not tell us much, being conventional. It compares,
however, favourably with the Mathura images.
Dhank a new
sculptures, hitherto barely noticed, open up
chapter in the history of Kathiawar sculpture.
1 Cf. and
Burgess, Digambara Jam Iconography, p. 5. "All tho Yakshas
Yakshinis have similar high tapering head-dresses.''
*
Ibid., pp. 3-4.
3 " Andhau
Inscriptions of tho time of lludradaman, No. c," Ep. Ind.,
"
vol. xvi, p. 25; and Stone Inscription of tho grandson of Jayadaman,
found from Biiwa Pyara Caves, Junagarh," ibid., p. 239.
373. H. D. Sankalia.