11th century Jain sculptures discovered in Mysuru district

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Last Updated31/12/2023

Three Jain sculptures dated to around 11th century CE were discovered in Varuna village in Mysuru district early this week.

The sculptures were amidst a heap of debris and were recovered while digging for drainage work.
The sculptures were shifted to the archaeology museum at the premises of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya

Jainism came to prominence in the 6th century B.C., when Lord Mahavira propagated the religion.
There were 24 great teachers
The last of whom was Lord Mahavira.
These twenty-four teachers were called Tirthankaras-people who had attained all knowledge (Moksha) while living and preached it to the people.
The first Tirthankara was Rishabnatha.

Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, was born in 540 B.C. in a village called Kundagrama near Vaishali.
He belonged to the Jnatrika clan and was connected to the royal family of Magadha.
His father Siddharta was the head of the Jnathrika Kshatriya clan and his mother Trishala was a sister of Chetaka, the king of Vaishali.
At the age of 30 years, he renounced his home and became an ascetic.
He practiced austerity for 12 years and attained highest spiritual knowledge called Kaivalya(i.e conquered misery and happiness) at the age of 42 years