Jain Tirthankaras of Vellore Museum, Vellore Fort, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu.

09^th September 2018.

The Vellore ASI Museum has a good collection of stone statues, of Hindu deities, Tirthankaras, arms like swords, metal icons, sculptures, inscription stone fragments, and Hero stones, which are unearthed in and around Vellore and Thiruvannamalai. These antiques are  from the 8^th Century to the 13^th Century.

In Tirthankaras, except one all are shown with Mukkudai, Ashoka tree leaves, whisk ( samara ) bearers, carved from flat stone slabs. One Tirthankara is in the form of a statue. Mukkudai and whisk bearers might be separate statues, which are not found. From the iconography, it is interesting to note that the showing of the pillows-like arrangement behind Tirthankaras started in the 10^th Century. The images of Padmaprabha and Parshvanath are only identified, but the rest could not be identified for want of lanchanam.

The Museum also has a collection of copper/impon (Combination of 5 metals) icons ranging from the 9^th Century to the 12^th Century.

 ---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---