Image of Jain Tirthankara seated in Dhyanamudra, Find spot unknown, about 5th Century A.D. Mathura, Curzon Museum

The Tirthankaras are the Buddha's counterparts in Jainism and are called sages, or occasionally 'saviors,' who have followed a rigorous ascetic life in order to find a clear intuition into the meaning of existence, Iconographically, the Tirthankaras were shown in complete nudity, but each with his own unique symbol whether in his bodily proportions, gesture of hands, position of feet or written symbol somewhere on his statue, and frequently in the Dhyanamudra (like the Buddhas), surrounded by his guardian Yakshas and Yakshis, who have their counterparts in Buddhist and Hindu deities, These Jainan sages were shown with the radiating numbus motif before the Buddhas, but in both cases, the halo was ultimately derived from the motif of a royal parasol distinguishing him who stands beneath it as being an important person, delicacy is not as inherent in Jainan as in Buddhist sculptures perhaps owing to the formers rigid austerity in both doctrinal and sculptural practices