Dr. Lisa Nadine Owen
Friday, 7th March 2008
Brunei Gallery Lecture Theater
Jaina Art & Architecture
10th Jaina Studies Workshop at SOAS
Lecture: "Demarcating Sacred Space: The Jina Images at Kalugumalai", Dr. Lisa Nadine Owen, Assistant Professor of Art History, School of Visual Arts, University of North Texas
Dr. Lisa Nadine Owen
Assistant Professor of Art History, School of Visual Arts. University of North Texas
Demarcating Sacred Space: The Jina Images atKalugumalai
Abstract:
In the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, there are a number of medieval Jain sites that feature large boulders or outcrops of stone that are carved with Jina images. One such site is located in the village of Kalugumalai, near Kovilpatti. Carved across the surface of a large rock formation that dominates the landscape are a series of small seated Jinas who are not identifiable through either attendant figures or distinctive emblems. Included among these carvings are images of Gommaṭa/Bāhubali and the Jain goddesses Ambikā and Padmāvatī. Although the reliefs at Kalugumalai are independent carvings and are often accompanied by individual donative inscriptions, they do, nonetheless, impart a relatively uniform program. In this paper, I will explore how Kalugumalai's relief carvings demarcate sacred space in similar ways as that expressed in rock-cut temples of the same time period. Though one cannot physically enter a space at Kalugumalai, the types and arrangement of images on the surface of the rock suggest connections with imagery carved in cave interiors. With this line of inquiry, I will also examine the nature of devotional activities at Kalugumalai and whether or not the relief carvings could have functioned in similar ways as enshrined rock-cut images.
10 minutes on video:
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