INDE CENTRALE, REGION OCCIDENTALE DU RAJASTHAN, DATE 1098

Jainism was established in India around the sixth century B.C. and flourished alongside Hinduism and Buddhism. The ultimate goal of the Jains or ‘conquerors’ was to achieve liberation from the cycle of reincarnations. They worship a group of twenty-four omniscient teachers or tirthankaras. Followers can be clothed or naked, and the latter are known as ‘sky-clad’ (digambara). That sect is rarer and its followers are entirely unclothed in token of their complete renunciation of all material comforts. The current stone tirthankara example belongs to the last group and is depicted without clothes. Its polished finishing and fine sculpting suggest that it once graced a shrine of an important temple. The date Samvat 1155 (1098 AD) can be found on the cushion and enhances the importance of this fine sacred image.

Art Loss Certificate, Reference: S00078936, dated 25 September 2013.