YAKSHINI PADMAVATI
Description
This is one of the most popular Yaksha-Yakshini pairs in the Jain pantheon. Their story is associated with the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, who once saved the serpent couple from the sacrificial fire of an ascetic. Years later, when Parshvanatha was engaged in rigorous penance, the same snake couple (now reborn as Yaksha Dharanendra and Yakshini Padmavati,) saved him from drowning in the flood. The Yaksha coiled around his body and spread his protective hood over Parshavanatha’s head.
Notice that the Yaksha-Yakshini pair hold similar attributes in their four hands. They have a lotus, a goad, a naga-pasa, and the fourth hand is in varada mudra. Both wear a five-tiered mukuta.
As deities, both Dharanendra and Padmavati enjoy an independent status. Padmavati is still worshipped at important family rituals for fertility by Jains today.
Collection
Jain Art
Object Type
Sculpture
Material
Dolerite
Schools/Culture/Period
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Technique
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Date
12th century CE
Location
Karnataka
Dimension
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