Jain Inscriptions of Rajasthan

SR No.: 001596
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Ramvallabh Somani
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharti Sansthan Jaipur
Publication Year: 1982
Total Pages: 350
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Art, & History
File Size: 17 MB

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Sakala-Tirth-Stotrais includes Narena among the old sacred sites of the Jains. Mahmud Ghazni laid a siege to this town in 1009 A.D. and demolished several Hindu and Jain temples. However these were later renovated. The Bijoliya14 inscription of V.E. 1226 mentions that Shresthi Lolak's ancestors constructed a temple at Narena. Dr. Kailash14 Chandra noticed several inscriptions on Jain icons from this place. According to him the standing image of Parshwanath bears an inscription dated V.E. 1009. The foot prints of Acharya Gunabhadra were set up in stone here in V.E. 1083 (1027 A.D.). The celebrated icon of Goddess Saraswati, a fine piece of Jain Art, discovered from this place contains an inscription of V.E. 1102 on its pedestal. The inscription of V.E. 1135 speaks of Pragvat Sajan's son Mathan, who had installed the icon of Bahubali in this town. The Kharatargachchha-Pattavali relates that during the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan, religious discussions were held there in V.E, 1239, between Jain monks belonging to Chaitya-Vasis and the Kharatargachchha. After the downfall of the Chauhans, this site fell in the hands of the Muslims. It seems that several Jain icons were hidden under sand dunes in order to save them from the fury of religious intolerance of the invaders. A few of them bearing the dates of the 14th century have recently been un-earthed.
Amer :
Situated at a distance of 9 Kms. from Jaipur Amer remained a capital of the Kachhawa rulers for a long time. After the foundation of Jaipur, it gradually became depopulated. Looking at its ancient monuments it can be said that the place was a prosperous site during the medieval times. The beautiful Jain icons with fragmentary inscriptions of 11th and 12th centuries A.D. now in worship in a Jain temple on the Delhi road corroborate the above. Epigraphic evidence tells us that there was a Chandra Prabh
13. Lal Chandra Bhagwandas Gandhi--A Catalogue of MSS in the Jain
Bhandars of Patap (GOS). pp. 312-316. 14. E. I. Vol. XXVI p. 34 verse 36. 15. Dr, Kailash Chandra-op. cit. p. 317 Appendices 24 and 25.