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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744 (687 A. D.) wherein installation of an icon is referred. The Sutradhar Sivanag is here compared with Brahma. Similar praise of a Sutradhar where he is again compared with Brahma, the creator of the universe, is also found in the Nagar inscription of year 741 and in the Kuvalayamala, composed in 788 A. D.
Sometimes, however, even the most skilled of the Sutradhars remain unrecorded and unsung. Sobhandeva, the great Architect of the temple of Lunig-Vasati is nowhere mentioned in the inscriptions of the temple, although other facts are recorded in detail. He is only referred to only in a fragmentary record and that too merely is a witness to a charitable grant given by a rich shresthi Bhayal of Gundoch58 (Pali) in V. E. 1288. Stories recorded in Jain chronicles such as the Prabandh-Chintamani and other literary works reveal that Sobhandeva was a very competent architect. Sutradhar59 Deepa built the temple of Ranakpur. His descendant Haradas60 constructed the temple of Achalgarh. The Meghanand61 Mandap with a tall pillared hall added to Ranakpur temple in V. E. 1611 (1554 A. D.) was perhaps built by a Sutradhar from Ahmedabad, who was accomplished in the style of architecture then prevalent in Gujarat. The beautiful temples of Jaisalmer named, Parshvnnath, Sambhavanath61A and Shantinath with their fine tracery works, were also built by Sutradhars Hapa, Shivdeva Kheta and many others, whose names have been recorded in epigraphs. We find names of several Sutradhars in the inscriptions of Jalore, Medata, Pali, Nagar, Jasol, Khed etc. A list of the names of the Sutradharas available in the Jain inscriptions of Rajasthan is given in Appendix B. Some Sutradhars were even followers of Jainism and constructed Jain temples of their own accord. Some Sutradhar families from Chittor, Delawara, Nagada,
58, ibid II No. 277. 59. Jin Vijay No. 309. 60. Abu II No. 473, 474, 471, 482, 483, 484. 61. Jin Vijay No. 308, 309. 61A. Nahar III No. 2154, 2139, 2113.