Jain Digambara Tirthanhara Standing in Kayotsarga Meditation Posture

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A tirthankara is standing in kayotsarga, or austerity meditation. The figure is austere, completely lacking in "adornment" (alamkara), a virtue in Hindu sculpture but seen by Digambara Jains as counter to the vows of renunciation. The short hair curls are an anomaly, as they mimic the Buddhist convention of short curls left after cutting off the hair with a sword rather than the required Jain practice of plucking out one's own hair. The extended earlobes share a common ancestry, denoting a personage who once wore heavy jewelry, implying that all jinas were of high birth.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art