Presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Colonel C. Mackenzie, 15th February 1815. Ka. 3.-A fragment of a sculpture in the same red sandstone as the two previous sculptures, and therefore probably with the same history, as it is Jain. It consists of two temples, one larger than the other, with four roofs, surmounted by expanded chhatras, and amlasila ornaments. Sitting in the temple, between two pillars, is a sāktī with one foot on a stool and the other leg drawn up, and holding an erect leafy object. in each hand. Externally the temple has a sārdūla on each side. In the little temple adjoining there is a Jina in the erect attitude. The sculpture on the left side terminates in a mythical elephant's head, on which is a small kneeling human figure. Tripura. The modern village of Tewar1 is distant about 6 miles from Jabalpur, Central Provinces, and is situated on the right bank of the Narbada, about two miles from the famous Marble Rocks. About half-a-mile to the south-west of the village, there are the ruins of an ancient city called Tripura or Karanbel, which General Cunningham states was famous as the site of the defeat of the demon Tripura by Siva. It was the capital of the Kulachuri Rajas 3 of the kingdom of Chedi,* and General Cunningham suggests that it may be identified. with the Sageda of Ptolemy." The site consists of a series of extensive mounds which have been used as quarries for ages, the most recent (1861) 1 Yule, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XXX, p. 211, Pl. г, p. 409. 2 Arch. Surv. Rept., Vol. IX, p. 54, Pl. xiv, fig. 2. Op. cit., p. 54. 4 General Cunningham has fixed the starting point of the Chedi era, or Samvat, in the year 249, A. D.: Conf. Preface, Arch. Surv. Rept., Vol. IX, P. VII. 5 Op. cit, p. 56. act of vandalism perpetrated on these ruins having been the destruction of the largest mound, the site of an old Jain temple, the stones of which were used to build the bridge of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway over the Narbada. In 1861, Colonel Henry Yule1 discovered two small but ancient-looking temples, in a mound to the westward of the great mound destroyed in 1861, and he states that both appeared to be Jain, and it seems probable that these are the temples described by Mr. Beglar. The following pieces of sculpture were found about them partially buried. Some inscriptions have been found among the ruins, and in the village of Tewar, and have been translated by Professor Hall.3 In north-east corner of the Gallery. Ta. 1.-An elaborately carved sculpture, 4' 3" high, and 2′ 8′′ broad, with a figure of the tenth Jina, Sitalanatha, sitting on a richly cushioned throne in the bhumisparsā mūdrá under a chhatra and with an elaborate lotus medallion or nimbus behind the head. The figure is known to be this Jina by the srivatsa symbol on the chest and on one sole. There is a large attendant male human figure with an elaborate head-dress on each side, accompanied by a small human female figure, and over these, on each side, is a cherub or vidyadhara offering garlands, and above these, on a lotus pedestal, on each side, has been a mounted elephant with an attendant behind it, bowing in reverence to the tree. The lobes of the ears of the Jina are enormously enlarged by ornaments, and the hair 1 Op. cit., p 211. 2 Arch. Surv. Rep., Vol. IX, p. 58, Pl. XIV, fig. 2. 3 Journ. American Oriental Soc., Vol. VI, pp. 449-536: Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XXX, 1861, pp. 317-336: and Addendum on the Identification of Chedi with the Tchi-ki-t'o of Hwen Thsang: S. Julien's Mém, de H. T., t. II p. 168, p. 408. is in small spiral curls gathered into a top-knot. The features are very short, round and flat, and the eyes very narrow and elongated. From a mound at Karanbel. Presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by His Excellency Lord Canning, Governor General of India, 2nd October 1861. Ta. 2.-Another, and more perfect sculpture than the last, and with the lotus throne supported on two richly carved pillars in front. Below the throne there are two sārdulas with open mouths and pawing the ground, and behind them at the corners, two women at one side, and a woman and a man at the other, the front figure in each case kneeling. The sides of the back of the throne are also supported by sārdūlas. In front of the throne, between the pillars, a richly ornamented cloth hangs down in front. The Jina is the same as in the last sculpture, and is in the same attitude. From Karanbel. Presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by His Excellency Lord Canning, Governor General of India, 2nd October 1861. Ta. 3.-A fragment, 2' x 1' 8" 25, probably the upper part of a large statue of a Jina. It consists of a conventional representation of the Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa), behind the branches of which is a conventional representation of a lotus flower, resembling somewhat the medallions of the Bharhut Stupa. On the left side of the dome-shaped tree, is a figure of Siva and Parvati, below which is a makara swallowing a human being, and in the opposite corner there are the remains of a similar monster. I judge the sculpture to be from Tripura, as the stone and art are evidently the same as in the two preceding pieces. In No. I on the north side of the Gallery. Ta. 4.-An architectural fragment, probably part of a Jain temple, and which from the similarity of the stone to the foregoing specimen, is probably from the same locality and with a similar history. It measures 2′ 3′′ × 1′ 6′′ × 9′′. Ta. 5.-Portion, 31′′.50 × 16,′′ of a large sculpture elaborately carved and consisting of a handsome pilaster to the left, on the right side of which stands a male human figure in an easy attitude with a bull at its feet in the background. The head of the figure is lost, but round the neck hangs a garland of vertebræ hanging down below the knees where there is a clasp, the centre of which is a monkey's skull. Behind the head there is a lotus flower as a halo. The pilaster has the same characters as the pillars on the foregoing Jain sculpture, to which this fragment, in the stone of which it is made and in its general art characters, has so strong a resemblance, that it is probably one of the sculptures found by Colonel Yule in this locality. Gwalior. The city of Gwalior, with its fortress the residence of the Maharajah Scindia, is situated about 65 miles nearly due south from Agra. The fortress was in ancient times an important seat of the Jain religion. It was founded in 275 A.D., and is built on an isolated rock, a scarped outlier of the Vindhyan sandstone, resting on a base of massive bedded trap. The rock attains to a height of 342 feet, and on its eastern side there are a number of colossal figures carved on it in relief, some of them 20 to 30 feet high. But there are many other groups of similar figures, some of which are even more colossal, one being 57 feet high, and quite naked. They are accompanied by inscriptions, some of which have been In the Report of the Curator of Ancient Monuments in India for 1881-82 it is stated, p. CLXVII, that "Major Keith's report on Gwalior is being printed, and may serve as a guide to the fortress and city." 2 Medlicott and Blanford's Manual of the Geology of India, Vol. I, p. 56. translated by Dr. Mitra. Besides these figures, the rock is also covered with small niches, and with caves excavated in it, many of them containing small statues, while others may have been originally cut out as cells for recluses. The inscriptions associated with these caves, niches, &c., record that they were all excavated and carved within a period of about thirtythree years, between 1441 and 1474 A.D.2 During the time of the English traveller, William Fitch, 1610 A.D., there was the life-sized figure of an elephant. mounted by two human figures outside the gate of the fortress, now known as the Elephant Gate. This elephant was also described by the Emperor Babar, A.D. 1525. There are cisterns on the side of the cliff, and numerous tanks within the fortress which also contains the ruins of Hindu and Muhammadan palaces, and Hindu and Jain temples. The finest example of Hindu architecture, according to General Cunningham,3 is the Man Mandir Palace (1486-1516), which Fergusson says "exhibits one of the most picturesque combinations of Saracenic with Hindu architecture to be found in India. It is entirely of stone, and carved with a degree of elaboration which is only to be found in such combinations." There is a temple, the "chaturbhuj" or "shrine of the four-armed God," cut out of the solid rock, close to the Lakshman Gate, and the inscription associated with it has been translated by Dr. Mitra,5 and from this record it appears that this temple was excavated in 876 A.D. Journ. As. Soc. Beng, Vol. XXX, p. 267, and Vol. XXXI, 1862, pp. 391-424. 2 Cave Temples of India, p. 510. 3 Cunningham. Arch. Surv. Rep., Vol. II, pp. 330.396, Pls. LXXXVI XCI. Hist. Arch., Vol. II. p. 605. |