Tirthankara

Sivaganga, Sivaganga District, TamilNadu. Height 38.7 cm, Breadth 33 cm. Circa 12th Century AD.

This Late Pandya period Jain Tirthankara was purchased from a resident of Sivaganga in 1946.The Tirthankara is depicted in seated Ardha-Paryankasana (unlike Padmasana both the feet are not placed over each other. This is the common seated posture of even common folk in South India) on nicely designed bhadrasana (rectangular base). The bhadrasana pedestal has a projection on either side over a yali figure (mythical animal with the face of a lion and the trunk of an elephant - some contend that it actually existed but is now extinct), to receive the prabha, which is missing. Two standing Chamara bearers are shown on the ends of the cushion at the back of the Tirthankara. The Chamara bearer on the right side of the Tirthankara is missing. On the backrest there are carvings including the figures of a Yaksha and Yakshi in dwarf size. The pose and the asana (sitting posture) with a well designed cushion are in the same fashion as seen in the famous Late Chola Period Nagapattinam seated Buddha bronzes housed in the Buddhist Section of the Bronze Gallery of this Museum.