A large green figure sits on a throne in a three-domed temple structure, flags flying from the outer domes. Sitting in the lotus posture of meditation, he wears an intricate headdress and jewellery. He sits under small bells and is flanked by male and female figures wearing snakehoods. A snake slithers below the throne. Above his head is a kind of double-ended lotus stalk, which is an ornament and probable symbol of purity.
The man and woman either side of the large figure each have four hands, one of which raises a fly-whisk. There are gratings above them on both sides.
Below on the left a woman is climbing steps.
On the right, a man squats to grind something while in front of him a woman holds various jugs and tools on a tray. She is looking over her shoulder towards the woman going up the stairs.
Thus this lively painting features two scenes in one, namely the:
Inside the main cella of the temple is the 23rd Jina, Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva, enthroned. This Jina is clearly identified through his body's typical green colour, the nine snakehoods above his head and the snake as his symbol below his throne.
The two figures with snakehoods are the pair of attending deities each Jina has. On the left is the yakṣa and on the right the yakṣī. They are named Dharaṇendra and Padmāvatī. Their four hands show that they are non-humans. The fly-whisk – cāmara – they each hold is used in non-religious contexts as a royal insignia, so this implement underlines the equivalence between a Jina and a king. The male figure also holds a flower in one of his hands. These attending deities are clearly depicted as devotees to the Jina, whom they serve.
Beneath them on the right, the man with an uncovered torso and a plait is a temple servant – pujārī – who is usually a Jain Brahmin. His job is to prepare ingredients for worship and to clean the temple and images. Here he is shown grinding something, probably sandalwood powder, as an ingredient of worship. The small jug in front of him is meant for water or milk. Such implements are used in worship rituals – pūjā – to sprinkle liquids on the statue of the Jina. The tray is used to transport the implements and may also carry flower petals to be placed in front of or on the Jina image. These preparations take place in the courtyard outside the temple.
The painter does not use perspective, but does represent the journey through the court to the temple and then inside. The temple court, where the temple servant is working, is presented first, followed by the interior of the temple.
This is a full-page painting. The elaborate floral border of the picture underscores the decorative nature of the image.
The 24 Jinas are always represented in a very stylised way in visual art. In some cases, however, the colour of their body is an identifying mark – green for Pārśva, blue for Nemi, for instance.
Apart from this the Jinas have no obvious identifying marks with the exception of the 23rd Jina, Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva. Pārśva is usually shown with a snake headdress, which highlights his close association with snakes – nāga. No other Jinas have a life story featuring an animal in this way.
Moreover, each Jina has an emblem that is frequently included in artwork so he can be identified. The snakes that form his headdress are Pārśva’s emblem and make him easy to identify among the 24 Jinas. He has nine snakehoods in this picture although the number varies between seven and nine. Seven is the most common number.
In the 12th century Hemacandra tells the story of how Pārśva became for ever associated with snakes.
One day, [Prince] Pārśva is in his palace and sees crowds of people hurrying along with flowers. On asking why, he is told that they are going to worship the ascetic Kamaṭha, who has recently come to town. He decides to go too.
[Thanks to his advanced spirituality, which gives him great knowledge,] Pārśva knows that a snake is hiding inside one of the logs being added to one of the fires. He orders a servant to take out this piece of wood and to split it carefully. A large snake slithers out, half-burnt but alive.
Pārśva has the namaskāra-mantra recited for the snake. Absorbed in pure meditation, the serpent looks at Pārśva with its eyes moist with compassion. The power of the namaskāra-mantra and the sight of Pārśva causes the snake to be reborn as a Nāga-king, Dharaṇendra.
A Jina is always shown in meditation, either standing or sitting, like here. Among the Śvetāmbaras, the Jina is thought of as a spiritual king and is often depicted with ornaments and seated on a throne. This is the case here.
The National Gallery of Australia offers an elaborately illustrated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra. The 23rd Jina Pārśva sits in the lotus posture of meditation. He is easily identifiable from his seven-headed snake headdress.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=177853&View=LRG
This recording of Look at Śrī Pārśva on SoundCloud was made by JAINpedia contributor M. Whitney Kelting as part of her fieldwork into Jain devotional practices among Jain women in western India in 2009.
This YouTube video features the Sankeshwar Parshvanath, a hymn dedicated to the 23rd Jina Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva. The picture shows Pārśva with all his characteristic identifying signs:
A painting of the 23rd Jina Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva in the lotus pose of meditation, held aloft by a four-armed goddess. Either side of him with hands clasped in prayer are his attendant deities, represented as half-snake, half-human figures. His yakṣa Dharaṇendra is on the left and his yakṣī Padmāvatī on the right. This 19th-century image is available via Calisphere, a service of the UC Libraries, powered by the California Digital Library.
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt3w100366/?layout=metadata&brand=calisphere
An 11th-century image of the 23rd Jina Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva and two unidentified Jinas. At the bottom sit his male attendant deity – yakṣa – Dharaṇendra and his female attendant deity – yakṣī – Padmāvatī. Dharaṇendra is the reincarnation of a snake Pārśva saved from death while Padmāvatī is a popular goddess in her own right, also closely associated with snakes. This photograph of the bronze image is on the website of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, USA.
http://www.nortonsimon.org/collections/browse_title.php?id=F.1975.06.S
The Poṣa-daśamī festival celebrates the birth of the 23rd Jina, Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva. Held in late December or early January in the Western calendar, Poṣa-daśamī is also known as Pārśvanātha-jayantī. Typically of many Jain festivals, an idol from a local temple is the centre of a procession through the streets – ratha-yātrā. The procession includes decorated animals, musicians, lay Jains and white-clad nuns. The Jina image is hung with bright flower garlands and is fanned with fly-whisks, symbolic of royalty. Lay Jains dance, sing and clap as the statue is brought into the temple at the end of the procession.
This two-part YouTube video records the 2010 Poṣa-daśamī festival in Jaipur, Rajasthan as celebrated by Śvetāmbara Jains. This is the first part and you can watch the second part here.
Commemorating the birth of the 23rd Jina, Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva, the Poṣa-daśamī festival is also known as Pārśvanātha-jayantī. It is celebrated in late December or early January in the Western calendar. Following a street procession – ratha-yātrā – the garlanded statue of Pārśva is brought into the local temple, while a conch is blown and a bell rung. The local community gathers around it and sings hymns in celebration. Chanting, they move a tray of fire in circles, offering pūja or worship to the statue. All the other images of Jinas in the temple are also decorated with flowers.
This two-part YouTube video records the 2010 Poṣa-daśamī festival in Jaipur, Rajasthan as celebrated by Śvetāmbara Jains. This is the last part and you can watch the first part here.
British Library. Or. 13478. Mānatunga. 1762
British Library. Or. 13623. Yaśo-vijaya. 1733
British Library. Or. 13741. Mānatunga. Perhaps 18th to 19th centuries
British Library. Or. 2116 ms. C. Śrīcandra. Perhaps 16th century
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512