Indian - Jina Parshvanatha with Attendants - Walters 543013

This image portrays the Jina Parshvanatha, who is distinguished from the other twenty-three Jinas of the Jain pantheon by the seven-hooded snake that forms a canopy over his head. Otherwise, he does not differ from the others and typically is an impassive, naked figure seated in the classic posture of meditation, with his hands placed on his lap in a gesture of contemplation ("dhyanamudra"). The nudity of the figure indicates that the donor, unnamed in the dedicatory inscription, belonged to the Digambara (sky-clad) order of Jainism, which predominates in Karnataka.

Parshvanatha is one of the twenty-four Jinas, or liberated teachers, worshipped by the Jains. Various tutelary and protective divinities of both sexes are also worshipped, but they are subservient to the twenty-four Jinas. Hence, two such deities are represented here as diminutive figures standing in attendance in front of the tiered base. The male on the Jina's right is Dharana and the female opposite is Padmavati. Although called "yaksha" and "yakshi," rather than "deva" or "devi," like the Hindu or Buddhist deities, they have multiple limbs and are venerated in a similar fashion.