Shrine with Four Jinas (Rishabhanatha [Adinatha], Parshvanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira)

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Shrine with Four Jinas (Rishabhanatha [Adinatha], Parshvanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira)

India, Uttar Pradesh, circa 600
Sculpture
Sandstone
23 x 17 x 17 1/2 in. (58.42 x 43.18 x 44.45 cm)
Gift of Anna Bing Arnold (M.85.55)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

This four-sided Jain shrine, known as “auspicious on all sides” (sarvatobhadra), would have originally been surmounted by an honorific parasol (chattra) or architectural tiers....
This four-sided Jain shrine, known as “auspicious on all sides” (sarvatobhadra), would have originally been surmounted by an honorific parasol (chattra) or architectural tiers. The four Jinas are Rishabhanatha (or Adinatha), the first Jain savior recognizable by his long hair; Parshvanatha, the 23rd Jain savior identified by his serpent canopy; and likely Neminatha, the 22nd Jain savior; and Mahavira, the 24th Jain savior, both of whom are indistinguishable. All the Jinas are naked, indicating that the shrine was commissioned by a member of the Digambara (‘sky-clad’) Jain order. Each Jina is seated in the meditation posture (dhyana asana) under a sacred Ashoka tree (Saraca asoca), rather than under the individual trees prescribed in some Jain texts.
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Bibliography

  • El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
  • El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1986.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya; S. Andhare; J. Cort; S. Gorakshakar; P. Granoff; J. Guy; G. Larson; Stephen Markel.  The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India.  Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994.
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