11th Century Jain Sculptures Discovered

GS Paper I Art and Culture

Context: Three Jain sculptures dated around 11th century CE were discovered in Varuna village in Mysore district early this week.

Three 11th century CE Jain Sculptures Found in Karnataka

An earth mover digging a drain found three damaged sculptures. Experts recognised them as Jain sculptures and they were shifted to the ASI museum at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalay.
Of the three sculptures, one of the sculptures was dilapidated beyond recognition, while the two others were in reasonably good condition.
- One of them is a sculpture of a Jain Tirthankara, but the other could not be clearly identified in the absence of symbols.
The entire belt comprising Varuna, Varakodu, and Vajamangala around Mysore were thriving Jain centres and can be excavated to discover the ancient traditions.

Dominance: Most of the Jain Sculptures are representative of the 24 Tirthankars of Jainism.
Position: They are represented in the seated lotus position, or standing in the meditation Khadgasana position.
- Usually, the standing Tirthankara is the most iconic Jain sculpture, with a rigid and usually nude representation.

Khadgasana Position

Meaning: Khadgasana refers to one of the various asanas (postures) commonly depicted in Jain iconography.
Description: The standing posture with feet at a distance of about two inches from each other, the hands resting naturally by the sides, but not so as to touch the body

Symbolism: These types of sculptures usually represent the ideal of a rigorous asceticism– central to the Jainism practice.
Presence: These Jain sculptures have been found in
- Shravanabelagola: Home to the iconic Gommateshvara statue, a 57-foot tall monolith of Bahubali in khadgasana position.
- Halebidu: The Hoysala temples depict several Jain Tirthankaras in khadgasana asana.
- Dilwara Temples: Located near Mount Abu, these temples feature khadgasana Tirthankaras.
Other Jain Sculptures: Other Jain sculptures have also been found, which carry narrative sequences from Jain Devotional texts, or have inscriptions from the Jain wordings in Prakrit languages.

History: In the 3rd century BC. Acharya Bhadrabahu predicted a twelve-year-long famine in north India and led the migration of Jain sangha to the south. The Jain Sangha halted at Chandragiri Hill in Shravanabelagola.
- He was accompanied by his disciple Chandragupta Maurya.
Spread of Religion: Realizing that Bhadrabahu was nearing the end of his life, he instructed his disciples to spread the religion and he undertook sallekhana at Chandragiri.
- Sallekhana refers to the religious voluntary practice of fasting to death by reducing the quantity of diet.
Chandragupta Maurya: He continued to live on this hill worshiping the footprints of his teacher and later he too took Sallekhana.
Famous Location: Jain Basadi complex, Halebidu Temples and Jain temples in Belgaum.