Studies in Indian Art c14.s2.11

c14.s2.11

The wooden porch in front of the temple is remarkable for some good carvings of a symbolical nature and has two Nandī bulls (length 4′—3″; 3′—3″) placed in front which are made of the same fine black stone in which are carved the two Dvārapāla images of Jaya and Vijaya in front of the larger Liṅga shrine in the northern part of the compound. These Dvārapāla figures are two-armed, each holding a mace in his outer hand while the inner hand is placed on the thigh (Fig. 154). Each wears fine jewelled mukuṭa, ekāvalī pearl necklace with a central elongated bead, short jaṅghikās or loin-clothes secured by a girdle, their busts being extremely well-done both as regards finish and polish. On stylistic grounds these figures maybe assigned to the Gupta period (circa 5th century A.D.). The two Nandī bulls and the bigger Śiva liṅga (girth 6′—8½″, ht. above floor 2′), which was reinstalled at some later date in its present position in the northern part of the compound, probably belong to the early medieval period.