Kankali Tila

Kankali Tila, also called the Jaini mound, is a roughly rectangular mound in Mathura, about 500 feet long and 350 feet wide. It takes its name from a modern temple of the Hindu goddess Kankali. Excavations from 1871 onwards, by Alexander Cunningham, Growse, Burgess and Alois Anton Führer among others, uncovered the remains of two Jain temples and stupas, including a Jain stupa dug out by Führer in 1890–91.

The finds included many Jain sculptures, ayagapattas or tablets of homage, pillars, crossbeams and lintels, most of them spanning roughly 2nd century BC to 12th century CE. Among them are images of Rishabhanatha from about 100 BCE, a Kushan-period Neminatha and a headless Parsvanatha. Inscriptions on several pieces shed light on how the Jain community of the time was organised. Most of these objects are now in the State Museum, Lucknow and the Mathura Museum.