Votive offering: Difference between revisions

[[Ayagapata]] is a type of [[votive]] slab associated with worship in [[Jainism]]. Numerous such stone tablets were discovered during excavations at ancient Jain sites like [[Kankali Tila]] near [[Mathura]] in India. Some of them date back to the 1st century. These slabs are decorated with objects and designs central to Jain worship such as the ''[[stupa]]'', ''[[dharmacakra]]'' and ''[[triratna]]''.<ref name=Brit>{{cite web|title=Ayagapata|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46406/ayagapata|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=18 April 2012}}</ref>

A large number of ''ayagapata'' (tablet of homage), votive tablets for offerings and the worship of ''tirthankara'', were found at [[Mathura]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jain|Fischer|1978|pp=9–10}}</ref>

These stone tablets bear a resemblance to the earlier ''Shilapatas'' - stone tablets that were placed under trees to worship ''[[Yaksha]]s''. However, this was done by indigenous folk communities before [[Jainism]] originated, suggesting that both have commonalities in rituals.<ref name=Brit /> A scholar on Jain art wrote about an ''Ayagapata'' discovered around Kankali Tila,: "The technical name of such a tablet was ''Ayagapata'' meaning homage panel."<ref>{{cite web|title=An ayagapata or Jain homage tablet, with small figure of a tirthankara in the centre and inscription below, from Mathura|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/a/019pho000001003u00852000.html|publisher=British Library|accessdate=18 April 2012}}</ref>