11th-Century Jain Sculptures Found in Southern India

MYSURU, INDIA—According to a report in The Hans India, three sculptures were discovered during work to install a drain in southwestern India’s town of Varuna. Researchers C. Manjula and N.S. Rangaraju, who were called to investigate the site, identified one of the damaged sculptures as the goddess Kushmandini Devi, and the other two as Jain Tirthankars, or teachers who have conquered the cycle of death and rebirth and created a path for others to follow. They also dated the carvings to the eleventh century, and the time of the Ganga and Hoysala empires, when there were Jain centers in the region. Additional excavation is being planned for the area in order to shed light on these Jain settlements. To read about an elephant sculpture unearthed on a riverbank in India's state of Odisha, go to "The Elephant and the Buddha."