Standing Jain Tirthankara Parshvanatha

Standing Jain Tirthankara Parshvanatha

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Parshvanatha lived in the ninth century B.C. He became revered as one of the great saviors, or tirthankaras of the Jain religion, one of the three great religions of India. Parshvanatha can be identified by the seven-headed cobra that shelters him while he stands meditating. Two attendants—Padmavati, holding a fan, and Dharana, holding an umbrella—stand to either side. Presumably, the tiny figures at the bottom of the relief are its two donors.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Standing Jain Tirthankara ParshvanathaStanding Jain Tirthankara ParshvanathaStanding Jain Tirthankara ParshvanathaStanding Jain Tirthankara ParshvanathaStanding Jain Tirthankara Parshvanatha

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.