History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c35.43
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c35.43
- Language
- English
v2.c35.43
Chapter XXX, page 394. Mr. P. Acharya has sent us the following note : The Navamuni cave and the Barabhuji cave (twelve-handed, the name of the cave is due perhaps to the presence of the 12-handed goddess Durga cut in relief there) of Khandagiri contain the images of the Jain Tirthankaras in a row on the back wall and below the Tirthankaras there are the images of the Sapta Matrika group including Ganesa and Virabhadra according to Matsya Purana. This Matrika group has been wrongly identified as Sasana-devis or consorts of Tirthankaras in the District Gazetteer of Puri, (Calcutta 1908, by L. S. S. O' Malley pp. 261-62). Two group of images of the caves seem to belong to the same period and therefore it is difficult to explain the purpose of placing the icons of two antagonistic faiths of religion in a common place of worship.