________________
WHY JAINISM AND BUDDHISM ARE THE SAME ? 287
tambar ones are in the same position, but with the sign of a loin cloth, the Buddha images have generally two clothes one under the waist and another upon the shoulders. The position is the same standing or sitting; some images have their hands like the Jain ones, some have one hand on the lap and one on the breast, or one or both the hands on legs, or in standing posture one hand lying down and one hand raised as if in preaching. Buddha images are constructed in lying posture also in the condition of Goutama Buddha in his last moments just before attaining nirvâna, which is a special feature with them. I had occasion to see Buddha images and temples at Ellora, Ajanta, Sanchi, Benares, Nasik, Bombay, Taxila etc., in India and in some places in Ceylon. In India I found almost all the Buddhist images made of stone, while those found in Ceylon are made of stone and also of a particular kind of nice clay. Clay images are constructed very nicely and with different colours of the bodily limbs. Such beautiful images are not seen in India. Here their images made of stone are generally of one colour like those of Jain images.
The Buddhist images seen by me at Kandy, Anuradhapura, Dambal, Kelaniya and Colombo at Ceylon are very meditative and attractive. They are placed on high plat-forms in the same way as in Jain temples. I saw in Ceylon the Buddhists worshipping their images just like the Jains worship their images. They make
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
