Kiran Balakrishna

Here's a small thread on the Jain iconography.The gentleman in the pic is Mr. Abdul,a professional guide in Lakkundi & a former ASI employee, who introduced me to Jain iconography. He knew much more than most of us about Hindu and Jain heritage.

All Jain Tirthankaras are either in sitting in Lotus position or standing upright. There are certain cues to identify them. Each Tirthankara has an associated symbol, like a lion, snake, bull ...etc. I'm covering the most prominent Tirthankaras here.

Let's begin with Adinatha, the most primitive saint. He is symbolised using a bull and his locks of hair generally curl down to his shoulders in most of his monuments. In the monument below, you can see Adinatha and an img of a bull in the pulpit below.All images are from Lakkundi.



Next is the most prominent of all Tirthankaras, Mahavira. He is represented using a lion and he is mostly found meditating in Lotus position or padmasana. The below desecrated #sculpture of Mahavira is from the main temple of Lakkundi. You can observe the img of a lion below.


Parshwanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara. You'll find some of the most beautiful sculptures of him across the country.A snake is symbolic of him and you generally find his monuments in a standing posture with a serpant hood over is head.The below ones are from Lakkundi and Chandragiri



The next prominent Thirthankara is Neminatha, contemporaneous to lord Krishna per Jain mythology. Hence is a conch shell, chakra and he is generally depicted to be dark in colour as Krishna. He is also often depicted to be flanked by Yakshis, as seen here below in Lakkundi.



Here's a sculpture of chandraprabha Tirthankara. He is represented as a moon crescent. The monument here in pic is from Chandragiri hill in Karnataka. Chandragiri hill is situated in the very famous Shravanabelagola town, lesser known that it's sister Vindyagiri, which houses the famous Gommateshwara statue. However, by no means it is less prominent than Vindyagiri. This is the place where the first emperor of India, Chandragupta Maurya attained moksha. This hill houses numerous small jain basadis and many more epigraphs. This hill is like an open air museum.