Ambika (mother) is the protector goddess (shasana devi) for the Jina (Jain savior) Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara (ford finder) of Jainism. She is a Jain yakshi (demigoddess) married to the yaksha (demigod) Gomedha. She is a fertility goddess worshipped for the welfare of mothers and children. Ambika was originally a married woman in Girinagar, Gujarat. She was banished to the forest by her husband Soma or Somasarman after giving away food meant for some Hindu Brahmins to a Jain monk Varadatta, the chief disciple of Neminatha, who had broken a month-long fast. Angila went to the forest with her children and sat under a wilted mango tree that miraculously produced fruit and a nearby dried-up tank that suddenly was filled with water. When her husband approached, out of fear she committed suicide by jumping off a cliff but was instantly reborn as Ambika.
The crowned, nimbate, and bejeweled Ambika is represented here with four arms. Her upper right hand carries a bunch of mangoes, and her lower right hand holds a citron (matulinga). Her upper right hand and its attribute are now broken but may have originally been a sword. Ambika is typically depicted with one or more children. Here, a now-headless boy sits on her left thigh supported by her lower left hand. He holds his right hand in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra). His left hand is now damaged. The goddess is seated in the relaxed posture (lalita asana) on her lion mount (sinha vahana). See also M.72.1.12.
