Female celestial holding a fly whisk and a water pot

Placed high on the wall to indicate their original placement as dome or ceiling brackets, this fly-whisk bearer and the celestial musician on the opposite wall once graced the interior of a Jain temple. The visual vocabulary of Jain temples is similar to those of their Hindu and Buddhist counterparts, where beautiful divine females also appear regularly amidst the sculptural decoration. In the Jain case, such heavenly beings contribute to the temple’s general conception as a celestial assembly hall. It is in such halls that each Jain teacher preached after attaining enlightenment.

White marble was used extensively in some Jain temples built in northern and western India during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Pigment traces on these two sculptures indicate that the temples’ interiors were elaborately painted.