The architectural fragment comprises five whole and two broken half cusps of a torana arch. The central bands are carved in high relief with a row of sword-carrying vidyadharasin contorted positions. This band is outlined with rope mouldings which emphasize the curves of the cusps and spring from deeply drilled squared-off foliate motifs on a flat plane. The top and bottom edges have similarly-carved cavetto borders of flame and petal mouldings. There are also fragmentary remains of pierced foliage decoration on the undersides of the cusping, above and in front of which there are fragments of a dependent band of fleur-de-lis (gagaramala). On top, in the interstices between the cusps, there are leonine kirttimukha heads.

Portion of a temple illika-torana (cusped arch), which came from a now ruined Jain temple complex at Shatrunjaya, next to the town of Palitana, Gujarat, dating from the 11th-12th centuries during the Solanki dynasty. The architectural fragment comprises five whole and two broken half cusps of a torana arch. The central bands are carved in high relief with a row of sword-carrying vidyadharas (mythical beings with magical knowledge) in contorted positions. This band is outlined with rope mouldings which emphasize the curves of the cusps and spring from deeply drilled squared-off foliate motifs on a flat plane. The top and bottom edges have similarly-carved cavetto borders of flame and petal mouldings. There are also fragmentary remains of pierced foliage decoration on the undersides of the cusping, above and in front of which there are fragments of a dependent band of fleur-de-lis (gagaramala). On top, in the interstices between the cusps, there are leonine kirttimukha (face of glory) heads.

Gallery location:
South-East Asia, Room 47b, case EXP

Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London