{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O60349"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O60349/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG6952/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PG6952/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PG6952","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7038","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7042","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7044","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7051","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7050","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG7045","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY0538","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O60349/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O60349","accessionNumber":"451(IS)","objectType":"Sculpture","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"A seven-headed seated figure of reddish sandstone of the eighth <i>Tirthankara</i> Chandraprabha, seated in the meditating position (<i>dhyanasana)</i> on a pedestal. His symbol (<i>l</i><i>anchana</i>), the crescent (<i>sasikala</i>), is engraved on the pedestal which contains a three-line inscription.  The image has a four-petalled <i>srivatsa</i> symbol on the chest.   Although the figure is quite late, it is unique.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"sandstone","id":"AAT11376"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Reddish sandstone","categories":[{"text":"India Museum","id":"THES286062"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2025PG6952","2025PG7038","2025PG7042","2025PG7044","2025PG7051","2025PG7050","2025PG7045","2017JY0538"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES405173"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Lalitpur","id":"x42791"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Possibly"},{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"23/04/1768","earliest":"1768-04-23","latest":"1768-04-23"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Date read by Professor J.C. Wright. A much earlier date has also been suggested. Tiwari and Sinha (see References) date this sculpture to AD 1401 following their reading of the inscription as including the date '<i>Vira</i> (Mahavira) <i>Samvat</i> 1928'. Professor Sita Ram Dubey proposed 1469. However, Professor Gouriswar Bhattacharya proposed 1[8]68. See Marks and Inscriptions and References for details."}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"34.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"24.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"12.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Inscription on base with a date read as 1[8]68 C.E., read by Gauriswar Bhattacharya, 13 July 2006. The conjectured '8' would however not be possible if the sculpture was in the India Museum by 1810 (please see 'Object History' below).","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'In the year l[9] 25 (i.e. 1 [8] 68 A.D.), on Thursday, the 6th day of the bright half of (the month of) Vaisakha, the image was caused to be made by Nandatola in the.... tisya-naksatra.'\r\n\n","transliteration":"'sam 1 [9] 25 vai.su 6 gurusu (?)/.... sam namdatolena a. tisye karapita'\r\n\r\nProfessor Bhattacharya's reading was rendered with diacriticals restored in Footnote 2 of Maruti Nandan P. Tiwari, 'A Unique Seven-Faced Tirthankara Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert  Museum' in Dr Peter Flügel and Janet Leigh Foster (eds) <i>Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies</i>,  March 2013, Issue 8, pp. 38-9:\n\r\n'saṃ 1[9]25 vai. śu 6 guruṣu(?)/...\r\n...saṃ naṃdatolena\r\na. tiṣye karāpita.'\r\n\r\n\n","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Inscription with date read as 1401 C.E. in Tiwari, Maruti Nandan Prasad and Sinha, Shanti  Swaroop. <i>Jaina Art and Aesthetics</i>. New Delhi :  Aryan Books International, 2011. ISBN 978-81- 7305-405-1. p. 66:\n\n'...dated in <i>Vira </i>(Mahavira) <i>Samvat</i> 1928 (AD 1401...)'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"\r\n"},{"content":"Inscription with date read as 1469 C.E. by Professor Sita Ram Dubey, published in \r\nMaruti Nandan P. Tiwari, 'A Unique Seven-Faced Tirthankara Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert  Museum' in Dr Peter Flügel and Janet Leigh Foster (eds) <i>Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies</i>,  March 2013, Issue 8, pp. 38-9.\n\r\n'...dated in saṃvat 1526 (=1469 CE).","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'The image of Candraprabha was installed in the  temple in Saṃvat  1526 (=1469) on the bright  6th day of the month of Vaiśākha'\r\n\r\n","transliteration":"'1. saṃvat 1526 vai su ṣaṣṭhi,  Candraprabha dhātu\r\n2. suvāstu saṁyutta helā dhyānamnuṣṭhitam\r\n3. anujñāpitam'","type":"","note":"'This reading is courtesy of Professor Sita Ram Dubey, Chairman of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.'\nTranslation in footnote 2 in Maruti Nandan P. Tiwari, 'A Unique Seven-Faced Tirthankara Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum' in Dr Peter Flügel and Janet Leigh Foster (eds) <i>Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies</i>, March 2013, Issue 8, pp. 38-9. \r\n"},{"content":"Inscription dated 23 April 1768 read by Professor J.C. Wright.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"\t\"6th day of waxing moon in Vaiśākha VS 1825  [23.4.1768]...\r\n\t...commissioned and installed by...\"","transliteration":"\tsaṃ 1825 vai° su 6…\r\n\t…- ena pra°tiṣṭā karāpitaṃ.\r\n","type":"","note":"Reading courtesy of Professor J.C. Wright, footnote 2 in Maruti Nandan P. Tiwari, 'A Unique Seven-Faced Tirthankara Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum' in Dr Peter Flügel and Janet Leigh Foster (eds) <i>Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies</i>, March 2013, Issue 8, pp. 38-9. \n'Professor J.C. Wright suggests a different reading of the text, written in Kaithī, not Nāgarī, script'.\n'Professor Wright also notes: \"The <i>pra°tiṣṭhā</i> is evidently a truncated version of <i>pra°tiṣṭhāpitaṃ</i> (with a misplaced abbrevation symbol after <i>pra-</i>). We just possibly have <i>saptaśīrṣā</i> 'seven-headed' at the start of the second line (a Ṛgvedic epithet, applied  in epic to Viṣṇu). I don't think it is possible to go further than that. There may indeed be a <i>naṃda</i>-  in the name of the commissioning agent, but that is quite uncertain until one deciphers the rest. The script seems quite in keeping with the apparent Vikrama date. There is no trace of 'Candraprabha'\".'\nThe editors' footnote continues: 'All three readings agree that only the symbol of the half-moon, inserted after the date, and the <i>śrīvatsa</i> symbol one should add, could point to Candraprabha.'"}],"objectHistory":"The sculpture depicts Chandraprabha (also known as Chandraprabhu Swami), the eighth of the 24 <i>Jinas</i> (spiritual victors) or <i>Tirthankaras </i>(ford-makers) revered in the Jain religion. Chandraprabha can be identified by the crescent moon carved on the pedestal. However, the sculpture may be unique in that Chandraprabha is depicted with seven heads whereas he would normally be shown with one. The inscription on the base includes a date but this presents difficulties and scholars have taken different views about how this should be read, depending not only on the reading of the characters but also on which Indian era the inscribed date was expressed in.\n\nDates proposed and translated to the Common Era (AD) range from the 15th to the 19th centuries including:\n1401 (Professor Maruti Nandan P. Tiwari)\n1469 (Professor Sita Ram Dubey)\n1768 (Professor J.C. Wright)\n1[8]68 (Professor Gouriswar Bhattacharya)\n\nPlease see 'Marks and Inscriptions' for further details.\n\nThe latter reading of the date in the inscription as '1[8]68' would have to be read as 1768 (or earlier) because the sculpture was on display in the India Museum, London, by 1810. It is almost certainly the same 'Statue in the Museum of the India House' of which a drawing was published as plate 69 of Edward Moor's book <i>The Hindu Pantheon</i>, published in 1810. There is a minor discrepancy between the actual sculpture and the text as Moor described the sculpture as being of 'a whitish, I think calcareous, sort of stone' whereas the figure is actually in a red stone but otherwise the drawing, description and height (given as 'about fourteen inches') match closely. Moor wrote that the inscription had been omitted from the drawing because it was too difficult to make out and copy. On account of the seven heads Moor described it as a 'Surya Buddha' although he admitted he was not aware of any such religious grouping and went on to suggest that it might have been made for a devotee of Surya who had partly converted to Buddhism. While this is implausible now, <i>The Hindu Pantheon</i> was among the earliest European publications about Indian iconography and at that date many European writers did not distinguish reliably between Jain and Buddhist figures, although Moor did successfully identify some other figures as Jain.\n\nThe origins of the figure are unclear but according to a visitor from Agra the sculpture was mentioned in a traveller's account in Hindi from around the 1950s. The traveller reportedly saw the piece in London and identified it with a temple record from the town of Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh of a figure of this unusual type being made.\n\nThe figure was in the collection of the India Museum in London until 1879-80, when it was transferred to the South Kensington Museum, renamed Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Seven-headed figure of a Jain Tirthankara (Chandraprabha, also known as Chandraprabhu Swami), sandstone, possibly 1768.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Tiwari, Maruti Nandan Prasad and Sinha, Shanti Swaroop. <i>Jaina Art and Aesthetics</i>. New Delhi : Aryan Books International, 2011. ISBN 978-81-7305-405-1. p. 66 and Pl. 95."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maruti Nandan P. Tiwari 'A Unique Seven-Faced Tirthankara Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum' in <i>Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies</i>, March 2013, Issue 8, pp. 38-9. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"p. 249 and drawing on plate 69","free":"Edward Moor. <i>The Hindu Pantheon</i>. London, J. Johnson, 1810."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Jain","id":"x32296"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["451(IS)"],"accessionNumberNum":"451","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-14","recordCreationDate":"2001-06-27","availableToBook":true}}