The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c8.s1.8

c8.s1.8

The interior of the temple is very dark. Within the shrine, seated upon a throne against the back wall, is a colossal Jina, while, lying in the passage round the shrine, on the west side, is a huge slab containing the image of a *devī* (Plate IV). This *devī* is, no doubt, the same as we find in Jaina temples in North Gujarāt and Rājputāna under the names of Ambikā, Ambā Bhavanī, Ambādevī, and Ambājī.¹ She is described in inscriptions as seated upon a lion vehicle and having two children, one upon each lap. In this image the children are held by attendants, one on either side. It is also a favourite image in the Jaina caves at Eḷūrā. The block, upon which the shrine image is carved, seems too large to have been brought in through the temple doorways: it was possibly placed in position before the shrine walls were built. The shrine doorway, as well as those of the antechamber, is very plain, having simple vertical mouldings up the sides, and a row of small *chaitya*-window ornaments along over the top.