File:Gommaṭeśvara.JPG

English: A single relief of Gommaṭeśvara. Gommaṭeśvara also endured hardships during his meditation towards enlightenment. Gommaṭeśvara was a warrior-prince who went to battle against his own brother in order to maintain his portion of his father’s kingdom. At the precise moment of his victory, however, Gommaṭeśvara realized the transience of worldly affairs and went to the forest to perform austerities in order to escape the sufferings of existence. It is said that he stood in a meditative posture for so long, that vines grew up around his body. Although Gommaṭeśvara achieved omniscience and became a kevalin, he did not preach in a samavasaraṇa and therefore did not become a Tīrthaṅkara. Gommaṭeśvara is shown here at Kalugumalai with the standard Digambara iconography of two female attendants (vidyādharī) and the vines that encircle Gommaṭeśvara’s legs. Thus, the presentation of Gommaṭeśvara and the Jina Pārśvanātha on the same rock surface may present the difficult, but successful achievement of kevalajñāna by a mortal man and by one destined to become a Jina. The visual pairing of these two figures is found in the ca. seventhcentury Jain cave at Aihole (Aihoḷe) and becomes quite popular in the ninth century at Ellora where we find at least nineteen examples. Source for the description of the image:DEMARCATING SACRED SPACE: THE JINA IMAGES AT KALUGUMALAI