Jaina altar piece of the 24 [Caturvimsati] Jinas: with standing nude figure of Mahavira cast in the round occupying central area of base, flanked by small tirthankaras; incsribed but unread. From Mysore, Karnataka.

Description

This miniature-scale altarpiece presents the entire cast of twenty-four jinas. All are shown as “sky-clad,” marking them as images related to the Digambara sect. The fact that all the jinas look alike, apart from scale and placement, expresses an important doctrinal point: the role of a jina is not to develop a personal philosophy or even to put a personal stamp on inherited beliefs, but to transmit an existing teaching.
Small bronze images such as those seen here would be placed in a special niche in a home or offered as a donation to a temple.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.