ClassificationsAsian Art

The Twenty-Four Jinas

Place CreatedKarnataka, India, Asia

CultureIndia, Karnataka

Date10th Century

MediumBronze

Credit LineGift of Jagdish and Madhu Sheth

Dimensions16 15/16 x 5 1/8 in. (43 x 13 cm)

Object number2000.018

Label TextIn this bronze sculpture from south India, 24 unclothed ascetics sit cross-legged in meditation on lotuses. They are the Jinas, the original teachers of Jainism, who were born as princes, renounced their kingdoms to adopt the vows of non-possession and nonviolence, and eventually achieved omniscience and liberation through meditation.

Rishabha, the first Jina, who Jains believe lived billions of years ago, sits at the center, identified by his long, flowing hair and pair of guardian deities seated at his feet – the goddess Cakreshvari on the right and the god Gomukha on the left. Five symbols of royalty and divinity signify that Rishabha has achieved omniscience: tree branches, a triple parasol, two fly-whisk bearers, a halo, and a throne decorated with lions. Above the parasols, a diamond symbol called a shrivatsa represents the omniscient soul at the center of each of these teachers. Parshva, the twenty-third Jina, who lived almost 3,000 years ago, crowns the sculpture, his head covered by the hood of his protector deity, a divine snake.

In Jain temples, worshipers bathe sculptures like this with water to honor the Jinas and to remind themselves to follow their teachings of nonviolence.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - August 2009
Victorious Ones: Jain Images of Perfection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, New York, September 18, 2009 - February 15, 2010
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, May 26, 2010 - April 4, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present
Published ReferencesMichael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 127.

ProvenancePurchased by MCCM from Doris Wiener (1922-2011) [Doris Wiener, Inc., Ancient Art of Asia], New York, New York.

Status

On view

Collections