# Black Stone Munisuvrat Swami Murti, 15in > Workshop-carved black stone Munisuvrat Swami in padmasana, a 15-inch derasar murti with the tortoise lanchhana on the pedestal. **Source:** https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/products/black-stone-munisuvrat-swami-murti-15in **Business:** Tilak Mandirwala — made-to-order marble temples (mandirs), statues and decorative handicrafts. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Founded 2006. **How it works:** Each piece is carved to order by the independent master sculptors TMW works with in Jaipur's Khajane Walon Ka Rasta sculptors' market. TMW designs the piece with the customer, briefs the sculptor, and follows it through to delivery and installation. **Pricing:** request-for-quote — pieces are custom, so the site carries no list prices. **Ships:** across India; export enquiries welcome. **About the image:** a design visualisation, not a photograph of stock on hand. The piece is carved to order after the design is agreed. **Availability:** made to order. ## The twentieth Tirthankara, and his tortoise Munisuvrat Swami is the twentieth of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, born at Rajgrihi into the Harivamsha line, and the emblem cut into the face of this pedestal is what names him. Every Jina is shown in the same still, seated form, so the lanchhana below the figure is the mark a devotee reads first to know who stands before him. Here it is a tortoise, carved in relief on the front panel of the base. Tradition also describes Munisuvrat Swami as krishna varna, dark of complexion, one of only two Tirthankaras spoken of that way. That is why this murti is cut in black stone rather than white marble: the colour belongs to the description of him, not to a designer's preference. His tirth at Bharuch, the Ashwavabodh, keeps his memory alive in western India, and his image is a familiar mulnayak and side idol in Shvetambar derasars across Gujarat and Rajasthan. ## Why black stone holds this form Black stone, the dense, fine-grained dark granite that South Indian temple sculptors have worked for centuries, behaves nothing like marble under the chisel. It is harder, effectively closed-pored, and carries no veining to run across a face, which matters on a murti whose entire expression lives in a few square inches. Brought down to a soft satin polish rather than a mirror, it holds a low even sheen that describes the shoulder line and the fall of the crossed legs without throwing hot reflections back at a derasar lamp. Where white marble reads light and open, this stone reads quiet and weighty. At 15 inches and roughly 12 kilos it sits settled on a shelf rather than perched on it, and being igneous it is unbothered by humidity, smoke or the daily wiping a worshipped murti receives. ## What is carved, and what each mark says The iconography follows Shvetambar Murtipujak convention, and almost none of it is open to interpretation. The figure sits in padmasana with both hands laid flat and open in the lap, right over left. This is the Jina's dhyana, never a raised teaching or blessing gesture. The srivatsa diamond is cut on the bare chest. A carved kandora waistband with kachota pleats runs at the hips, the detail that distinguishes a Shvetambar murti from an unadorned Digambara one, and small kundals are worked at the ears. The eyes are carved wide and open, the chakshus convention adopted so the devotee stands before a living Tirthankara, with the gaze set to the nose tip. The upper body is bare and uncovered: no robe, no shoulder cloth, no topknot. A Jina is not a Buddha, and the carving is kept explicit about it. ## How the murti is made The block is chosen first, for evenness of tone rather than size, because a patch of grey or brown in a 15-inch piece cannot be polished away. Roughing out is done with the heavier tools, the seated mass and the pedestal blocked in together so that figure and base come from one stone. From there it is hand work: the face, the hands, the srivatsa, the waistband and the tortoise are finished with small chisels and rasps under a master sculptor's hand, never machine-dressed. Polishing is progressive, stepped up through finer grits until the satin level is reached and stopped there deliberately, because a mirror polish on a piece this size flattens the modelling of the face. ## Placing a 15-inch murti, and other sizes Fifteen inches is the size most home derasars are built around: tall enough to be the mulnayak of a domestic shrine, small enough to leave the singhasan and the surrounding paraphernalia room to breathe. Set it at seated eye height, with clear space above it. The same form can be cut larger for a community derasar, or smaller for a travelling shrine, and it can be carved in Makrana or Vietnam white marble if your derasar is built in light stone. Message us on WhatsApp with the height and the stone you have in mind and we will put the commission together for you. ## Specifications - **Material:** Black Stone - **Finish:** Soft polish (satin) - **Colour:** Black - **Height:** 15 inches - **Width:** 8 inches - **Depth:** 7 inches - **Weight:** 12 kg - **Ideal for:** Home derasar, Derasar Stone, size and finish are all changeable — these are the specifications of the piece as shown. ## Media ### Images (1) - https://vptrobfqdvauunfvodxw.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/tmw-media-assets/Statue%20product%20images/black-stone-munisuvrat-swami-murti-15in.webp (primary, concept render) All media is public and CORS-open — fetch directly, no signing or proxy needed. ## Part of - [Statues](https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/collections/custom-marble-statues) ## Related pieces - [Black Stone Neminath Bhagwan Murti, 18in](https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/products/black-stone-neminath-bhagwan-murti-18in) - [Makrana White Marble Mallinath Murti, 15in](https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/products/makrana-white-marble-mallinath-murti-15in) - [Makrana White Marble Adinath Rishabhdev Murti, 18in](https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/products/makrana-white-marble-adinath-rishabhdev-murti-18in) ## Enquire about this piece - WhatsApp, message pre-written: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=919766532408&text=Hi!%20I'd%20like%20a%20quote%20to%20have%20this%20design%20made%3A%20Black%20Stone%20Munisuvrat%20Swami%20Murti%2C%2015in.%20Product%20link%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tilakmandirwala.com%2Fproducts%2Fblack-stone-munisuvrat-swami-murti-15in - Tell us the size, the stone and where it is going. We will send you a quote and a timeline. ## Contact Tilak Mandirwala - Email: info@tilakmandirwala.com - Phone: +91 92141 72150 - WhatsApp: https://wa.me/919766532408 - Enquiry form: https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/contact - Store: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India — https://www.tilakmandirwala.com/best-mandir-shop-jaipur Enquiries are quoted per piece: share the deity or object, an approximate height, and the stone you have in mind.