Ambika | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Spouse | Sarvanha (Dig.) Gomedha (Śvēt.) |
Part of a series on |
Jainism |
---|
In Jainism, Ambika (Sanskrit : अम्बिका, Odia : ଅମ୍ବିକାAmbikā "Mother") or Ambika Devi (अम्बिका देवीAmbikā Devī "the Goddess-Mother") is the yakshini "dedicated attendant deity" or Śāsana Devī "protector goddess" of the 22nd Tirthankara, Neminatha. She is also known as Ambai, Amba, Kushmandini and Amra Kushmandini. [1] She is often shown with one or more children and often under a tree. She is frequently represented as a pair (Yaksha Sarvanubhuti on the right and Kushmandini on the left) with a small Tirthankar image on the top. [2] The name ambika literally means mother, hence she is Mother Goddess. The name is also a common epithet of Hindu Goddess Parvati. [3]
The name Ambika is a Sanskrit words, that translates to mother. [4] [5]
According to Jain text, Ambika is said to have been an ordinary woman named Agnila who became a Goddess. [6] She lived in the city of Girinagar with her husband, Soma and her two children, Siddha and Buddha as per Śhvētāmbara tradition Or With Husband Somasarman and her two children, Shubhanakar and Prabhankara as per Digambara tradition. [7]
One day, Somasarman invited Brahmins to perform Śrāddha (funeral ceremony) and left Agnila at home. Varadatta, the chief disciple of Neminatha, [8] was passing by and asked for food from Agnila to end his month-long fast. [9] Somasarman and Brahmins were furious at her as they considered the food to be impure now. Somasarman drove her out of the house along with her children; she went up to a hill. [7]
She was blessed with power for her virtue, the tree she sat down under became a Kalpavriksha, wish-granting tree, and dry water tank has overflown with water. Gods were angry at the treatment with Angila and decided to drown everything in her village but her house. After seeing this Somasarman and Brahmins felt this was because of saintliness and went to beg for her forgiveness. Upon looking at her husband afraid of punishment Angila committed suicide by jumping off the cliff but was instantly reborn as Goddess Ambika. [10] Her husband was reborn as a lion and he came to her, licked her feet and became her vehicle. [7] Neminatha initiated her two sons and Ambika became Neminath's yakshi. [11] [12] [5]
Ambika is the yakshi of Neminatha with Sarvanha (according to Digambara tradition) or Gomedha (according to Śvētāmbara tradition) as yaksha . [8]
Worship of Ambika is very old, a number of images and temples of ambika are found in India. [11] Goddess Ambika along with Padmavati, Chakreshvari are held as esteemed deities and worshipped in Jains along with tirthankaras. [13] [14] Ambika and Padmavati are associated with tantric rituals. These tantric rites involves yantra-vidhi, pitha-sthapana and mantra-puja. [15] [16] Ambika is also called Kalpalata and kamana devi a goddess that fulfils. In Vimal Vasai Ambika is carved kalpalata, a wish fulfilling creeper. [17] Ambika is also associated with childbirth and prosperity. [10] Ambika and Sarvahana is the most favoured yaksha-yakshi pair in western parts of India. [18] Ambika is also worshiped as Kuladevi or gotra-devi. [19] Ambika is the kula-devi of the Porwad(Pragvat) Jain community. While she is worshipped by all murtipujak Jains, she is specially revered by the Porwads. [20]
According to legend, after completing construction of Gommateshwara statue, Chavundaraya organised a mahamastakabhisheka with five liquids, milk, tender coconut, sugar, nectar and water collected in hundreds of pots but liquid could not flow below the navel of the statue. Kushmandini appeared disguised as a poor old woman holding milk in the shell of half of a white Gullikayi fruit and the abhisheka was done from head to toe. Chavundaraya realised his mistake and did abhishek without pride and arrogance and this time abhisheka was done from head to toe. [21] Worship of Kushmandini devi or Ambika is an integral part of Jain rituals in Shravanabelagola. [22]
According to the tradition, her colour is golden and her vehicle is a lion. She has four arms. In her two right hands, she carries a mango and in the other a branch of a mango tree. In one of her left hands, she carries a rein and in the other she has her two sons, Priyankara and Shubhankara. [24] [25] [26] [27] In South India Ambika is shown to have dark blue complexion. [23] Ambika is depicted as sashandevi for other tirthankars as well. Ambika is often represent with Bahubali. [28] Yaksha-Yakshi pair sculptures of Ambika and Sarvahanabhuti are one of the most favoured along with Gomukha-Chakreshwari and Dharanendra-Padmavati. [18]
Ambika has been popular an independent deity as well. [10] [29] It is speculated that the origin of Ambika is attributed to elements of three different deities - first, goddess riding on the lion from Durga; Second, some goddess associated with mangoes and mango trees; Third, Kushmanda. [30]
The Amba-Ambika group of caves of Manmodi Caves, dated 2nd century CE, has carving of Goddess Ambika. [31] The oldest sculpture of Ambika is an idol from Akota Bronzes dated 550—600 CE. [32] A sculpture of Ambika was discovered at Karajagi village in Haveri taluk. The sculpture has a two-line Sanskrit inscription in Nagari script about the date of its installation - "Ambikadevi, Shaka 1173, Virodhikrit. Samvatsara, Vaishakha Shuddha 5, Guruvara". This corresponds to Thursday, 27 April 1251 AD. [33]
The Amba-Ambika group of caves of Manmodi Caves, dated 2nd century CE, is dedicated to Goddess Ambika. [31] The Ambika Temple, Girnar dates back 784 CE and is considered one of the oldest temple dedicated to Goddess Ambika. The worship of Goddess Ambika, the tutelary deity of Shri Munisuvrata-Nemi-Parshva Jinalaya, Santhu is popular among devotees. [34]
The major temples of Shri Ambika Devi include:
The Dilwara Temples or Delvada Temples are a group of Śvētāmbara Jain temples located about 2+1⁄2 kilometres from the Mount Abu settlement in Sirohi District, Rajasthan's only hill station. The earliest were built by Bhima I and supposedly designed or at least financed by Vastupala, Jain minister of Dholka. They date between the 11th and 16th centuries, forming some of the most famous monuments in the style of Māru-Gurjara architecture, famous for their use of a very pure white marble and intricate marble carvings. They are managed by Seth Shri Kalyanji Anandji Pedhi, Sirohi and are a pilgrimage place for Jains, and a significant general tourist attraction. The Dilwara temples are regarded as the most impressive among Jain temples in Rajasthan.
The Yakshas are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities. The feminine form of the word is IAST: Yakṣī or Yakshini.
Yakshinis or Yakshis are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas or Apsaras. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yakshas, are one of the many paranormal beings associated with the centuries-old sacred groves of India. Yakshis are also found in the traditional legends of Northeastern Indian tribes, ancient legends of Kerala, and in the folktales of Kashmiri Muslims. Sikhism also mentions yakshas in its sacred texts.
Padmāvatī is the protective goddess or śāsana devī (शासनदेवी) of Pārśvanātha, the twenty-third Jain tīrthāṅkara, complimenting Parshwa yaksha in Swetambara and Dharanendra in digambar the shasan deva. She is a yakshini of Parshwanatha.
In Jain cosmology, Chakeshvari or Apraticakra is the guardian goddess or Yakshini of Rishabhanatha. She is the tutelary deity of the Sarawagi Jain community.
Nemināth, also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi, is the twenty-second Tīrthaṅkar of Jainism in the present age. Neminath lived 81,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankar Parshvanath. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi of the Yadu dynasty in the north Indian city of Sauripura. His birth date was the fifth day of Shravan Shukla of the Jain calendar. Krishna, who was the 9th and last Jain Vasudev, was his first cousin.
Isakki, also called Isakki Amman, is a folk Hindu goddess. The term Isakki derived from the Sanskrit yakshi, through the Prakrit yakki. Her veneration remains popular among certain Hindu communities in the southern Indian districts of Tamil Nadu, specifically the Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Salem districts. She is generally considered to be one of the 'village deities'. Village deities like her are believed to act as guardian spirits.
The Jain temples of Khajuraho are a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Khajuraho. They are located in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of the city of Jhansi.
Jainism in North Karnataka flourished under the Chalukyas, Kadamba, Rashtrakutas, and Vijayanagara Empire. Imbued with religious feeling, patronage was extended towards the building of Jain temple and it garnered high repute among the people, particularly the ruling classes and the mercantile community; effectively getting treated as the state religion.
Tirumalai (lit. "the holy mountain"; also later Arhasugiri, lit. "the excellent mountain of the Arha[t]"; Tamil Engunavirai-Tirumalai, lit. "the holy mountain of the Arhar" is a Jain temple and cave complex dating from at least the 9th century CE that is located northwest of Polur in Tamil Nadu, southeast India. The complex includes 3 Jain caves, 2 Jain temples and a 16.25-foot-high sculpture of Tirthankara Neminatha thought to date from the 12th century CE that is the tallest Jain image in Tamil Nadu. Arahanthgiri Jain Math is also present near Tirumalai complex.
The Shantinath Jain Teerth, also known as Shri 1008 Shantinath Digambar Jain Mandir, is a Jain temple located in Indapur, Pune, Maharashtra. The design and architecture of the temple is patterned after that of South Indian temples. The temple is known for its 27-feet tall granite idol of Shri 1008 Munisuvrata, the twentieth Tirthankara. The number 1008 is significant in Jainism and is associated with the Tirthankaras. The temple is also locally known as TheGolden Temple because of its golden facade.
Jain sculptures or Jain idols are the images depicting Tirthankaras. These images are worshiped by the followers of Jainism. The sculpture can depict any of the twenty-four tirthankaras with images depicting Parshvanatha, Rishabhanatha, or Mahāvīra being more popular. Jain sculptures are an example of Jain art. There is a long history of construction of Jain sculptures. Early examples include Lohanipur Torsos which has been regarded to be from the Maurya period, and images from the Kushan period from Mathura.
The Brahma Jinalaya, sometimes called as the Greater Jain Temple of Lakkundi, is an early 11th-century Mahavira temple in Lakkundi, Gadag District of Karnataka state, India. The temple is attributed to Attiyabbe, the wife of the local governor Dandanayaka Nagadeva. It faces east, has a mukhamandapa, a gudhamandapa and its sanctum is covered by a sur-temple style vimana superstructure. The temple is notable for its reliefs depicting Jaina artwork, statues of the Tirthankaras and the two statues of Brahma and Saraswati inside its inner mandapa.
Adinatha temple is a Jain temple located at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is dedicated to the Jain tirthankara Adinatha, although its exterior walls also feature Hindu deities. This temple is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in Khajuraho Group of Monuments.
Maladevi Temple is a Jain temple located in Gyaraspur town of Vidisha in state of Madhya Pradesh, India.
In 1956, 240 Jain bronze idols were discovered dating back to early medieval to medieval period. The Vasantgarh hoard, thus named after the place of discovery, Vasantgarh is located in the Sirohi District of Rajasthan, India.
In Jain cosmology, Gomukha is the guardian god or Yaksha of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara.
The Humcha Jain temples or Humcha basadis are a group of temples found in Humcha village of Shimoga district in Karnataka, India. They were constructed in the 7th century CE in the period of the Santara dynasty and are regarded as one of the major Jain centres of Karnataka. The Padmavati Basadi is the most well-known of these temples.
Pakbirra Jain temples is a group of three Jain temples in Pakbirra village in Purulia district of West Bengal.
The Ahichchhatra Jain temples is a group of Jain temples in Ahichchhatra village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Ahichchhatra is believed to be the place where Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankar of Jainism, attained Kevala Jnana.